I was really thirsty. I did not hydrate properly, but rather drank nothing but diet soda in the days leading up to the event, as well as pre-event.

I would hydrate better by drinking a bottle of PowerAde a day leading up to the event, and then drinking an entire bottle the morning of the event, as I do for my triathlons. I was really thirsty, which made me cough a lot.

Had a mini bagel and a bottle of water while lying on the grass, waiting for everyone else to finish the race and to see how I placed. I was pretty discouraged with my time, and then one of the race organizers said the course was actually longer than 5K, so after the race, I drove home and got my bike, came back, and rode it to measure it. The course is 3.36 miles long. Yes, I drove 100 miles just to measure the race route.


My knee and hips. Two blocks into the race, I was completely winded and stayed that way. Three blocks into the race, the stroller moms passed me. My "run" is about as fast as most people's walk. Person after person after person passed me. I tried like hell, but I couldn't keep up. I pushed myself even when I wanted to walk, just kept running. My stride shortened to about 24" toward the middle of the race. I concentrated on lengthening it, but I was pretty tired. I also noticed I have a tendency to swing my left leg out and around to bring my foot up higher since it really doesn't clear the ground. I'm not sure whether that hurts me or helps me, but I figured at least I wasn't wasting energy by dragging it and tripping over stuff, so I just continued.


I would like to do this race again next year. I like that it's close, and it was well organized, with lots of happy volunteers. The money raised goes to a local (Deer Park) cancer group to help local people, and I like that. They didn't specify age group rankings in the final results, so I have no idea where I stand with others in my group, except that I wasn't #1, 2, or 3!