They all can't be "easy" runs.

Fort Hamer Bridge 10k. They have been building the bridge over the Little Manatee River for two years. Someone got the bright idea that they should run a race over it, before it opened to traffic. It is still under construction, technically. The views from the top were outstanding. So, given that this is the first time anyone has run this course, that the weather before and after the race was miserable, furthering problems in already bad parking logistics, that 2,600 people signed up for the races (They expected 1,500. This was the largest 10k/5k in Manatee County history.), this race, production-wise was way better than expected. Of course, the 5kers ate everything at the finish. Also, I don’t know what races have against providing water lower than room temperature. One church had a snow cone tent that I went back to many times, so I could get some ice.  

I recognize that I’m out of shape, and not ready for racing. But there were a couple of other factors that contributed to my poor time. My co-worker ran the 5k. She got a PR! I am stunned that anyone could PR in the soup. The rain before and after really generated the dishwasher feeling that a PR was out of reach for everyone. Because of the parking situation (you can’t really park near this place), they had to delay the start an extra half hour to allow people to get there. That more or less wrecked my warm up. This is the second time this kind of thing happened to me, and both times it worked out bad. The course starts out, goes north 100 yards, then hairpin turns south to go over the bridge. Everyone had the same plan – I better get out in front of the pack before that hairpin on a wet road. It was kind of nuts, but then opened up on the big bridge. About a mile deep, hairpin #2 to go back north across the bridge again. I was braced for those turns. The course map made it clear those would happen. I was not braced for the 5 other little bridge crossings, extended running on brick pavers, or the other 4 hairpin turns on the course. Those were kind of a surprise, and really beat me up. I was solid for the first 3, then things started to unravel, but I held on. Like I said, I’m not in race shape. I was surprised by the 2^nd place age group thing. I got another tile/coaster. Eventually, I’ll be able to tile a bathroom with 2^nd place age group tiles. The guy that I used to consider my worthy adversary finished 4^th overall. He has become much faster. He asked if I would run the remember the fallen 5k in two weeks, but boy #1 has a soccer tournament. Helmet Guy has returned. He is now Blonde 80s Rocker Wig Guy (think Kajagoogoo), and he beat me by a minute.

My parents drove up with my brother, which was cool. He turns 50 on Monday. Because of the late start, I could not attend the funeral in Venice for my next door neighbor at 10. So, I hung around to get my tile/coaster. Then back to Bradenton at 4 for a preseason soccer scrimmage for boy #1, that was lightning delayed twice. Many miles were driven on Saturday, and I was wore out by the end of the day.

This leaves me in a weird spot. The race was good enough to inspire me to run faster and race more. I just don’t have the time with the kids’ schedules to make that happen. Or, at least, it would feel that I would be intentionally misplacing my priorities to put running ahead of something it shouldn’t be ahead of, if that makes sense. But it felt great to go fast-ish again. I need more of that in my life.

The guy that won senior grandmasters asked me my time, and I told him kind of depressed-like. (this is, after all, my slowest 10k ever.) He was really excited for my time, and started high fiving me and patting me on the back. He kind of changed my attitude a bit. So I said “Yeah, don’t let the muffin top fool ‘ya! The kid can run!”

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