My brother in law registered me for this evening race months ago and honestly up until a few days before I completely forgot about it. I am generally more of a morning person. By that I don’t mean that I wake up, jump out of bed and jubilantly open the curtains while singing about what a beautiful day it is (you’re asking for at least a healthy shut up for that kind of insanity, and that’s only if the listener is exceptionally nice). I mean that I am most motivated in the morning. If possible, I prefer to start my day with exercise because I feel like it helps me through the rest of the day. Plus, I don’t then spend all day thinking “I still have to work out.”

In case the previous paragraph didn’t make it clear, I’m not much of a night runner, and this 5k proves that I’m also not much of a night racer. I looked forward to the downtown course that was supposed to take us by the Charleston Battery (but didn’t due to construction) as we don’t make it downtown nearly as often as we should. It’s one of the larger 5k races I’ve participated in (nearly 900 runners) and many sported some cool costumes (including an inflatable bull, which I forgot to take a picture of). I ran into my old running buddy who I haven’t seen in awhile and as with any race, the simple fact that it was a race pumped up my adrenaline a bit.

That’s about where the fun ended.

Thanks to my fairly recent asthma diagnosis, I start out most runs with a couple puffs of my inhaler. I must have had some kind of premonition though, because I decided to bring it with me this time.

asthma girl is ready to race
asthma girl is ready to race

Once the gun went off, I made the mistake (AGAIN) of starting out too fast – WAY too fast. There was a fairly strong headwind for much of the race, I had to stop and catch my breath twice and once had to pull my inhaler out of my belt to take a puff as I ran. I spent much of miles 2 and 3 trying not to puke (proving my theory that I don’t run well after eating, even though I had eaten 2.5 hours earlier) while fighting wind, inhaler in hand.

Still, by some miracle I managed to finish in 24:14 and earn myself a new post baby PR, trailing the 3rd finisher in my age group by a mere 10 seconds. Don’t ask me how, because I have no idea.

So, maybe it wasn’t so bad, but I think I’ll stick to morning races anyway.