Great Weekend Part One - Pre-Race

Oh, there's so much for me to talk about today! We'll start with the 5k. I can honestly say that Saturday was probably the best day I've had while living in Oklahoma. It was all good, there was no bad in it. I woke up pretty dang early Saturday morning, because my room was a mess and my obsessive internal over-planner feared that the family would want to come back to my place for awhile before or after the race. And seriously, even I didn't want to be in my room. It was that gross. So I spent an hour or two cleaning up and freshening up. Then I went out and bought new socks. Not the most exciting thing you've heard all day, I'm sure, but I got nice socks that are for people who run and don't want their toes to fall off. I was excited about trying them out at the race.

My family met me and Joy's family at Q'Doba and we all had a big fun lunch together. I was a bit nervous about my worlds colliding (you know, friends and family don't always go so well together), but it went great! Jakin, Anna and Mikaiah got along great with Isa, and all the adults really liked each other too! It's been funny to hear everyone talk afterwards. When I spoke with my family they went on and on about how much they liked my friends, and when I spoke with my friends they went on and on about how much they liked my family. What a relief! Well I loaded up on good carbs and protein at Q'Doba (I know I was only running a 5k, but I wanted to make sure I had plenty of energy), and then we went shopping for a little while, followed by some delicious Pink Swirls. I enjoyed introducing it to my family, and they all seemed to enjoy it.

Joy and I took off, got dressed, and headed off to the race. I'm really glad she was there with me, because there were lots of little things I was completely clueless about! Like when we checked in, I told them my name and they said, "Oh, we'll get you your bag and your chip is down there (pointing to another table)." I was totally confused. What kind of chip do I need to run? Like a poker chip? Are we placing bets on who wins the race? A potato chip? Thank you, but greasy food does not sound appetizing right now, and how stingy are you to just give one potato chip? I looked at Joy and she graciously said, "I'll explain it in a second," in a low enough voice that the girls behind the table didn't hear and think I was an idiot. So I figured the chip thing out (apparently it's supposed to keep track of your actual time. Since we all cross the start line at different times it keeps track of when you cross the start line and when you cross the finish line. Good to know!), and Joy showed me how to put it on my shoe, which was good, because I probably would have ended up tying it to my bandana or my ear or something. I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, folks.

Then we just hung out for awhile, because we had gotten there way early. I was really intimidated, because everyone looked like real runners and I felt like a total imposter! I thought for sure they'd figure out I was just a former fat girl who wanted to try her hand at something challenging and then they'd all laugh at me or kick me out or something. Then I took stock of what I was wearing - appropriate clothing, new running shoes, good socks, an iPod with an arm cuff, and (the kicker) my Garmin GPS watch. So I figured I looked enough like a runner to at least fool them until the gun went off. That was good. We mingled around with our friends a bit, had a good time, talked about our nervousness, and then made our way to the starting line.  My family was waiting there at the starting line with the sweetest sign! On one side it said, "Run Corrie Run! We love Aunt Corrie!" and the other side you can see below. Isn't that awesome? I was moved by their support.

OK, this is getting a little long, so I'll continue this story later. Give you a little while to digest this portion before giving you my non-runner's take on the race itself and the events that followed!