A Surprise 10k Anyone?

Alright, it wasn't exactly a surprise.  G-Sis and I signed up for a 10km race for April and promptly forgot about it.  For some reason, in the back of my mind, the race was on the last weekend in April.  Nope.  Good thing G-Sis bothered to check when she did because we realized last week that the race was....today!  So I ran 10k this morning.

I had been carb-loading in preparation for this race for a month now.  Too bad that was all the training I did; and it showed/felt like it.  My time was 1:00:33 (maybe a few seconds faster since that was gun time, not chip time).  Still.  I thought I could pull it out in under and hour even after not having run for the last 7 days. 

Recap:
It was freezing.  Our hands were numb long before the run started and it drip-dropped for a few hours.  Until it rained for the last half of the race and poured while we ate the post-run chili under the bag-check tent. 
I started feeling it as early as km 3.  Ouch.  By the turnaround I was slowing to a pace above 6min/km.  Old people were passing me.  I think Dame Edna passed me at some point.  The Indian version of Mr. Bean flew right past.  **warning:  TMI ahead** My mind was constantly distracted by the fact that I hadn't been able to "lay any cable" prior to the race despite the good vibes I was sending my colon.  I even visited the port-o-johns by the race course, but who can go like that?  It was filthy and a giant spider was staring at me.  *Shudder* If you run then you know that the poops is a terrible feeling and can completely mess up a run (no pun intended).  I anticipated the poops real bad after a whole weekend of awesome/bad food and had a close call at 6.66km but I made it.  At km 8.5 I started chatting with Howard, a man in his 60s who always seemed to have a cheering squad around the next bend.  He tried to get me to pick up my pace and finish with him but I fell behind to avoid emptying the contents of my stomach onto my shoes. 

Moral of the story:  I am incapable of pulling a 10k out of my @$$.  But my entry fee went to children with cancer so it wasn't all bad.  In fact, I feel great now and I'm glad that I participated but it reinforced the fact that all of my stamina is hard-earned and easy-lost.

Props to G-Sis who ran it in 54 something!  Awesome!  Why do I always run with people who kick my butt?

G-Sis getting ready to go!

Me, pre-race.  The obligatory, nerdy thumbs up

Post-race chili.  It was too wet to photo during the race