The First Cent

Saturday I woke up before the sun, threw on my running gear, got the baby up, dressed her, and was out the door. My body was tired. But it was great to pick up my friend, Becky, whom I had not seen in quite a while and drive to Gulf Breeze for the Bushwacker 5K.

We saw the sun peek above the horizon on the bridge over the bay. The clouds were beautiful.

Becky dropped me off at the start and drove to the finish where she registered and rode a school bus back. But there were so many people we never met up until .1 miles from the finish!

Eden and I went inside the Rec Center where we had ringside seats to the pick-up basketball games being played. How different basketball is in person! The speed, the sounds of the sneakers squeeling on the floor, the energy! I was glad she got to see it in person as she ate her morning banana.

Then we went outside where the crowds were growing and it was like a grand reunion of people. We saw Cheryl again - a friend we met for the first time at the Firecracker 5k in July. Plus Jason, Shawn, Pam, John and Stan from Gulf Power and others from our Galloway running group. Everyone was happy to be there and the crowd kept swelling! I was accustomed to the Seafood Festival and Firecracker crowds but this was much bigger!

Just before the start, Eden was saying something over and over and pointing. Finally I clued in - "doggy!" Yes, we had to go make friends with the dogs, big and small, that had come to see us off. :)

It was an impressive crowd that started walking down the road a bit to the start. We found out later it was over 1000 people.

With the baby stroller, I placed myself near the back so I wouldn't be in anybody's way, but tried to stay in front of the walkers. I did have the presence of mind to start my watch a few seconds after the gun. So I know it was at least one minute after the start before I was able to cross the starting line!

Since I follow Galloway's method of running for 1 minute then walking for 1 minute, it was a perfect chance to teach Eden the words "fast" and "slow". So every other minute I would say, "Are you ready to go fast?" and she would say "fast" - and off we'd go! Then, "Let's go slow" and she'd say, "slow"

There was one young lady who looked to be about 10 or 11 that I really felt bad for her. She was struggling long before the 1 mile mark. Her mother was 50 feet ahead and turning around to say, "Come on!" and the young girl would start running out of desperation. She'd walk 30 seconds and then run again in a way that betrayed her lack of energy. I could tell she was thinking, "I'm never going to do this again!" I wanted so badly to tell her, "Just walk with me for a minute, catch your breath, and you'll feel better." I hate to see people raise the bar so high that others believe they can't run, believe it cannot be fun, and that it's something akin to torture. The only reason I'm there is because of the Galloway Walk Breaks. If I had believed I had to run the entire time, I would've never even made it to my first 5K. I would've missed out on all of the friends, all of the joy, all of the fitness and been stuck on the couch.

Turning the corner to the Bob Sikes Bridge was quite a sight! I wish I had my camera! The lane was packed with people all the way up that bridge. Eden was excited to see the water! Someone had asked me if I was going to run or walk up the bridge.... well, I did both! The 2nd run minute on the bridge, I cut back to 30 seconds and then walked for 1:30. But that's the only slacking I did. :)

The top brought less relief than I thought it would. I wished my jogging stroller had a little footpad I could stand on and ride down! :) I was concerned that Eden hadn't drank any of her iced water and it was HOT - so I grabbed a cup of water at the 2.5 mile mark and poured it on her head before grabbing another and pouring it on mine. :)

I had saved my secret motivation for the last .5 mile - so here I put in my headphones and turned on Riverdance. That is music to sprint to! It was still hard going, but I had more to give - (I just had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to find it!) And my own little soundtrack was just the thing I needed at this point. Becky found me just at the end and ran with me a bit, until the finish line was in sight and my watch beeped to say "Run!" Run I did! In fact, I gave it a little hop-skip when I took off! Right when I was entering the finish chute - I questioned the wisdom of my last all-out sprint. I was done. (And I do apologize to those two people walking to the finish that I cut in front of! That was rude.) But at that point, the mind is not working at all, which is why they always have to remind me to take my little number tag off! I like sprinting at the finish - silly, but I don't want anyone to think I'm washed up at that point. If I am, then I didn't run the distance wisely.

Becky (31:21) was a dear and retreived popsicles for Eden and I. Thom (who ran a 26:18) and his wife were there along with their two children. Everyone enjoyed the popsicles, especially Eden & Joanna who got their pictures taken by the race photographer. :) One of the two directors of our Galloway group came and talked to Becky who is training for her first full marathon. Jackie told Becky how they've passed lots of people after mile 20 in a marathon because they're still fresh and have more to give. The others are walking because they have to - but they walk one minute after every 4 minutes of running from the start and Jackie is still able to sprint at the end. I think Becky was impressed.

We had to strip Eden as she was covered in popsicle and rinse her off before going home. It was a great day. At home, I couldn't quit doing. The momentum of the race was propelling me forward into laundry and chores. I finally laid down because if I didn't nap while Eden napped, she'd wake up and I'd be washed out. (So I forced myself to take a 'nap break' just like a 'walk break.')


I had to vacuum the sand out of Joe's car when we got home - and, no joke, I found a penny in the center console that made me smile. :) The first of many pennies for me, I hope. I have it in my bathroom to remind me of this day. Oh, did I forget to mention? I set a new PR: 39:09. :)

See you after our first training run on Monday!