Armadillo Run 5K, Oldsmar, FL

Subtitle: The Incidental PR

I drove into Oldsmar this morning and eventually found the race site (no thanks to TomTom, but I digress...) Got my number and shirt, found Linae, and we hung around waiting to start in the 25 mph wind. Found Slow Twin Bill, chatted for a few, then we were off. L & B went ahead, as they are speedy, and I trotted along at a nice, even pace. I took my first of three walk (cough) breaks right before I hit the one-mile mark, where I proceeded to hack up a lung. Or so it felt. Passed one mile in 10:29. Huh? All right...ran through the nice neighborhood facing the bay, saw Linae going back the other way, got to the turnaround, and got smacked with a lovely headwind. Walked and coughed a bit more, trying to dislodge whatever the hell has been living at the back of my throat for the past three days. No such luck. Started running again, and made it to about 2.5 miles before I had to walk again.

I looked at my watch after I started running again, trying to figure out exactly how far I was from the finish line and how much time I had to get there. I'm not great at math when I'm NOT running, so this was a pretty neat trick for me. I saw the 3 mile mark up ahead and realized that if I really booked, I could possibly maybe PR. So I ran 'til my eyes bled the last 0.3 miles, crossing the line in 33:59 by my watch. That's a 27 second PR! I somehow managed to PR after being sick for a week and not running for two. At a race where I was just there to get the tshirt and see some friends. How, I may never know. But I'll take it happily and not question the Race Gods :)

Had pizza and half a beer afterward. At 9 AM. How awesome is that?? I love running :)