Big weekend! I ran the Florida Half Marathon in hilly Clermont on Saturday with my daughter, Wendy Spencer, and good friends Lee Casteris and Jackie Macaluso. When the decision was made that we would meet in Temple Terrace at 4:45 a.m., I started to wonder if doing this race was the right decision, but, of course, it was.
Last week was just not a good week for me, the week leading up to the race I mean. It was just extra hectic and quite stressful, so, not having pre-registered, I seriously considered staying home and going for a long run at sun up, but I had told them I'd go, and there was also that nagging voice whispering in the back of my head, "You know if you go, you'll be glad you did. You know you'll enjoy being with your friends. You know you're ready for this race and likely to have a good time. You know you can take a nap when you get home. You know that even though the temp will be in the forties, you'll be toasty after running a couple of miles. You know that no matter how hilly it is, it probably won't be any worse than San Antonio. You know you run well in the hills. You know you'll be sorry if you don't go!"
Turned out, the temp was, as predicted, in the forties, and the wind was really blowing as well. I would never have predicted that we would all have excellent races, but we all did. It was one of those magical mornings, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. The voice in my head was dead on.
A small and low-key race, there was no photographer and not a lot of food, but piping hot hot chocolate made up for that. They let me take my age group award and leave right after the race, which I liked because it was just too cold to stand around waiting for an awards ceremony.
It was just Jackie's and Lee's second half marathon, and both had huge PR's. Wendy has done many halfs, but still dropped a huge chunk of time as well. That was my 16th half, and I had my best time in several years, only two minutes off my best ever, even in the hills.I'll definitely add this race to my half calendar for next year.
We had our own personal one man photographer, support crew, and cheering section, too. Thanks, Michael. You were great!
There is a reason why that voice in my head had so much to say. It's because I've done so many races before, and I know that I'm always glad I did them after I finished. Some are better experiences than others, of course. This happened to be one of those. Once again I find myself thanking my friends; I certainly would not have gone if it weren't for them, AND once again I find myself appreciating the voice in the back of my head that is much wiser than my conscious self.
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