It should have been perfect....

See that blue, blue sky?
Not a cloud in it.
It was in the low 80's.
The course was flat and fast.
Can't you just feel the excitement in the air?

And these were some of the spectators at the finish line.

Wouldn't it be great to finish looking at these faces?

Well it should have.

One problem.

I woke up at 2am with the stomach flu.

I was up all night long and it was not fun. When it came time to get Paul up, I was in tears. I had been running for 2 months to prepare for this and I was going to miss it. I was quite literally sick to my stomach over it.

So Paul gets in the shower and I start taking deep breaths and kind of meditating. I have an iPod shuffle. I had this engraved on it because I am not a very athletic person...."Make the mind run the body". It's kind of become my mantra. I can make my body do this. I know I can.

By the time Paul gets out of the shower I say, "I think I'm going to go down there with you and just see how I feel."

So I did.

About every other minute I say, "I am going to do it."

Or, "There is no way I can do it. I don't think I can do it."

In the end, the mind won. I did run the full 5K. But it was not fun. And there were several occasions when I was scoping out the closest large tree that I could puke behind. I did not run the whole thing. My stomach would not allow it. But I ran the majority.

And I did cross the finish line with a smile on my face.I was not fast. I was actually very very slow. But there was a very very older, gray-haired woman in front of me that I was determined to finish before. And I did. Just barely. But I was not last! :) And I am pretty sure my mind ran that race.

And then my mind shut down for the afternoon.

And I had a large glass of water and slept most of the way home.

Paul really enjoyed it. And I'm so sad because I know I would have, too. So we'll do it again soon. And now I'll have a personal best time that it will be virtually impossible not to beat!