Let's cut to the chase... 
Yesterday afternoon, we had a completely unexpected snowstorm for about an hour. To my horror (and I'm sure to Sean's as well - he's our race director), a bit of snow still lay on the lawns early this morning, and the roads were a sheet of ice. Temperature at 6:30 AM, 33F. (At the gun, high 30sF.) It was too icy to safely walk the course at 8:00 AM, let alone run, and the kids' race was to start at 9. The road was literally covered with black ice. Sean chose to delay all races by 30 minutes to allow Mr. Sunshine to do his job. (Thank you, Sean!!!) Eventually the morning warmed up and off we went. The first 2 miles were filled with thoughts that went something like this: "I hate this. Why do I do this? I am miserable. I can't breathe." Yes, I had warmed up. And yes, I always feel that way in a 5K. Really, I don't know how you guys who do 5Ks all the time can stand it. It was tempting to think, "I just need to be in better shape." But that won't hold water. No matter what shape I am in, if I am trying to run the fastest pace I can keep up for 3 miles, I will always feel this way. And so, finally, acceptance and peace.... and just 1 mile to go. In this final mile we encountered the only ice left on the course, on a wooden bridge going through some shaded woods. Just a little slow down there. The course was very good. I love the changes Sean made since the St. Paddy's run in March. The race goes through my own home turf, all the streets and trails I know so well. Very, very hilly, but a nice distribution of up and down, with at least 200 yards of down/flat at the start and a down hill finish. There was a very large field of runners this year. I kept seeing people I know, which is very unusual for me. I had the pleasure of seeing a woman I used to work with, whom I have not seen for about 13 years! A very close friend of mine has returned to running (yay!) and was there with her family. The best thing was seeing all the Mt. Si Running Club runners, most of us standing out in our fluorescent green/yellow shirts. I've never known so many runners in a race before. I hoped to beat my St. Paddy's time of 26:02, so I am extremely happy with my race. Although I ran today's course faster than the St. Paddy's last March, the competition today was steeper. But I still got a trophy! I LOVE THAT. It really does make the memory of suffering diminish every time I look at it. Post Script, Sunday morning: Results are online, so the finish time is now correct. Average page was 8:07 -- on hills, that means that some of my running was sub 8!!! (insert happy dance) I. Am. Thrilled!
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