"Things dont always work out the way you expect......and that's ok too."

My martial arts teacher always said this to us. And when he would say "and that's ok too" he would smile and put you at ease.
I thought about his smile this morning when things weren't quite working out..........

The 5k this morning was a first time event locally, and was part of the Greg Norman Merril Lynch "The Shark Shoot Out"

If you are into Golf, you can get a glimpse of beautiful Naples on the t.v this weekend. Possibly a little overshadowed by the Tiger Woods debacle, but the tournament is a popular one and a favorite fun time stop for the pro's. The course is located on the grounds of a Ritz Carlton hotel and in a very high end residential community. The race was laid out nicely and took us through the residential neighborhood.
With a start time of 7:15, registration started at 6:15 am. Due to the golf tournament, we had to park off site and busses shuttled us inside. I woke up early, made myself a nice cup of espresso, hopped in the shower and was ready to leave. Still nice and dark at 6 am as I got in my car. I try and start the car, my battery is DEAD. I grab my phone and call for a cab. Dispatch tells me no cabs for at least 45 minutes. As I stand in front of my garage, my old little scooter winks at me and I can swear she says "I will take you". The problem is, I know Ms. Scooter has a blown fuse. But I decide to start her up anyway. One step on the starter and she STARTS UP. I grab an extra sweatshirt and I'm off. I kept thinking in my head "and that's ok too". I took me a little longer to get there obviously, so the routine of getting there and taking in the scene had changed a bit. I got there with about 15 minutes to spare. Got my chip and enjoyed the fresh morning air and the excitement off all the people milling about. I got lots of looks and questions about my VFF's. The most common ones were "are you running in those?" and "where did you get those" There was 1 other young lady that had a pair of sprints. Made my way to the starting line and felt a good rush of adrenaline. My starting song on my ipod shuffle was ready and I was ready to give my first race a real go. Well, I did exactly what I told myself not to do. When the gun went off.......I sprinted like a mad man ;-) Bobbing and weaving (Thanks Andy, I know what you mean now) I tried to pass everyone I could. I was so fired up. Hey, I'm a greenie. ;-)

I ran so hard that I actually started breathing heavy and I think I easily ran my first mile in under 7 minutes. I couldn't sustain that obviously, but found my stride and watched the other runners. At mile 2 my calf screamed at me.........I only had one choice.....I screamed back and said "frik you calf" I kept a good pace and even though some 12 year old girls, a few older ladies and one really old guy passed me, when I saw the finish line I picked up the pace pretty good for the last 200 yards, I came in at 24:30. I was feeling very happy about it. Sadly my name is not yet on the final results list, as my chip was not tied to my shoe but my shirt. I didn't know where to attached the chip on my VFF's, so stuck it to a safety pin on my race bib. Guess you're not supposed to do that and now they have to enter me manually. So 24:30 for a 5K is a pace of 7:51 a mile. Not too shabby for a first one. Next race in January. Goal will be to go below 23 minutes. I felt good after the race, calf was sore but not terribly so. I had to go play tennis at 9:30 so went home took a shower and headed for the courts. I told my doubles partner that he had to do all the running though ;-)

I know we are not supposed to be to tied to materialistic possessions......but today I'm really grateful and in love with possibly my two favorite ones.

Thanks for all the support and comments prior to the race guys. It was really appreciated!!