Firecracker 5K

I hope that everyone had a happy and safe July 4th! I celebrated my freedom by running our local July 4th run. It was hot so I knew that I would not PR, but I wanted to run it in under 30 minutes. Over 3,000 people started the race to the cannons in the 1812 overture. I had to weave in and out of folks for awhile, but once I got some clear road, I felt really good. I was sure that I was going out too fast until I passed the first mile marker and the clock read 10:30! My first thought was "too slow", but being the optimist that I am, my second thought was "all right, I"ll definitely have a negative split!" I started to pick up the pace a little and was so busy running into the sprinklers that people had put on the race course, trying to get hit by kids throwing water balloons, thanking the police officers who were directing traffic, and putting a flag in my ponytail, that I missed the second mile marker. The heat started to get to me by the third mile and I just wanted to finish. I thought cool thoughts and that seemed to help carry me through. The final stretch was up a hill and I had no kick left (could be because of the six mile run a few days before). I crossed the finish line in 29:59 with a smile on my face. God Bless America!