I DID IT!!!!

Saturday was great!!!!! I took Trac's advice and did my race....Did not worry about anything!!! It started on Friday night. Me and the kids drove to my mother's house in Burnt Hills...Where the race was going to be. Teresa was already there and said she had a present for me. It was my bike for the Tri!!!! It is a 18 speed alum bike. It is much better than the bike that I already have....It is really not a real tour bike but she is thinking about me and knows that the bike that I had would not do!!!

My mom got us spaghetti dinners at a local restraunt that we always went to when we were kids. Then we did 80's Music Trivia that I got at work from one of the guys at work. We had such a great time with that we just laughed and laughed. After that we tried to get to sleep....For me it was nerves...For Te, it was the kids. She is not use to the talking, coughing, and movement that my kids do. They are sleeping when they do this, but for somebody who is not use to it....It can be hard.

Saturday morn, I treated it just like a normal Saturday run, except I was with Teresa not Sherrie. We got to the Middle School were the race was being held and registered. We got there about 45 minutes before the race....So we stretched and walked around the Middle school waiting for the race to start. It was so weird being in the school, it seemed a lot bigger when I went there. We then talked to the history teacher that we had when we went there. He actually remembered us!!! I think that got rid of a lot of the nerves that I had.

At 9am the Race started.....The shut down the 2nd busiest road in Burnt Hills, shot off the gun and off we went. We started off at a good speed towards the back of the pack....I was there to finish...Like Trac said "This is my race". About .25 miles, My kids and My parents were sitting in the driveway with cameras and signs cheering us on!!!! What a way to start a race!!!

We got to the first mile marker and the person yells out the time of 10:35!!! I was surprised!! But this time it did not bother me like in the first race....We met up with someone who was running alone and started talking when we could. That really killed some time, actually one whole mile!!!

They did not call out any times at mile 2, but that is ok!!! I looked at my watch and we were still going at a good speed at point, 22:30. The lady that was with us started running faster and the father daughter team that was just behind us the whole time, passed us. That was ok with me and Te. But I made her promise that she would run faster and get a good time this time...This was her race also and she did not have to be with me when I crossed the finish. If she could run faster, she was to. I promised her that I would not stop running and that I would finish the race.

We got to the hill that we though would be so tough......Just like before things look a lot bigger when you are little!!! We got up that "hill" and was heading for the last turn!!! After telling Te one more time that I would not stop running (Why would I!!! I ran that far!!) She took off. She runs so effortlessly but did what she had to do. I could see her the whole time and she looked great!!! And I kept on running, not fast but never stopped!!! There was one lady that passed me at mile 3 and said to me "don't stop now you been ahead of me for 30 minutes you can do it" That and thinking of Te already there gave me that little extra push.

I got to the finish line and they yelled out my time....All I heard was 33 minutes....I did not get the rest because I was so surprised with 33....I had my PR!!!! I won't know what it is until they post it on BH-BL Rotary web site next week. A middle school kid put a sticker with my time on my bib where they rip it off and all I saw was 33...Still missed the seconds. Then I saw my kids, my parents and Te yelling at me and telling me how well I did. Andy and Brian gave me a big hug once I got out of the "gate". Andy told me how proud he was of me. Te came over and we hugged. The first lady, the father/daughter team, and the second lady all came over to me and we gave each other high fives. We did it.....I did it.

We did have some "funny" moments at this race. Burnt Hills is a small suburb and they only have one ambulance. During the race it had to go out on a call. Te crossed the finished line and was in the gate and my mom was in a panic...She started yelling at Te "Where's Sue? What happened?" No "good job". No "good going". My mother thought that the Ambulance was for me. Te then went to her "Do you think that I would finish the race if Sue was hurt?" "She is coming" I came about a minute later, but I was there. That tells you how clumsy I was when I was a child that my mother would think that the ambulance would be for me!!!

Then when I finished the race, my mother told me how good that I looked. "Not like the first race Susan. You did look like you were dyeing this time." My mom knows how to give the complements!!!!

This race gives me motivation to run more!!!! I can do it!! Sometimes it might be hard. Sometimes it might be easy. No matter what, I CAN DO IT!!!