The 54th running of the Watford-Alvinston Optimist Road Race with Alex, Dave LaDuc and Caroline Clark (not sure about those last names). I ran side-by-side with Caroline for the race as was the plan, though she sprinted the last 1/2 km and beat me to the finish by about 20-30 seconds I think (weirdly her time did not show up on the sheets). For once I have an accurate time: 1:27:12, I'm pretty sure that if setting a good time were my motivation I could have gone faster, not sure how much but I had lots of leg left at the end...I got a stomach cramp after we started sprinting and just decided to drop it back down to pace, sprinting isn't my thing, but I could definitely have run at a faster pace.

But, just so I'm clear here, I really have no interest in proving that or in finding out "just how fast" I can go ... I ran 10 miles on a public road with two significant hills (the experienced runners said it was a tough course), I chatted with Caroline along the way, comfortably talking without strain. I stopped a couple times whist Caroline filled up her water bottle and slowed a bit going up the hills to allow Caroline to catch up, I suspect I could have taken 5 minutes off of that time without too much trouble. But I wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much and in the end it wouldn't have provided bragging rights over the time I did do to anybody but a very small number of friends; to everybody else, including myself, the day was an accomplishment in itself.

I did get my first racing injury though: a bleeding nipple! It still hurts a bit as I type this. Not sure what is different this time round, though Caroline in jest suggested it was my new "running shirt". I wore cotton tees for months, stubbornly refusing to by the new fangled material that "whisks away the sweat" I recently relented and bought a couple, they might do that better than cotton but I think it is just a different kind of wet ... anyway for whatever the reason, this 10mile race rubbed  my right nipple hard and long enough to cause it to bleed. This was one of the injuries that I swore would never happen to me cause it proved runners are crazy ... I'm not yet sure what this means for my future races.

My time made the very last entry on the first page of the leader board (last year that time would have put me 46th of 130 and 19 of 40 in my age group, I'll update with this year's info after it becomes available online). Of course, had Caroline's time been posted I would not have made that first page, but it did put me about exact middle of the pack just the same. I had a really good time running with Caroline, which I would do in any case but I'm usually running too fast for her. Had I tried to stay anywhere near of Alex's time of 1:12:34 I'm sure I would have died somewhere along the way...he is fast! and when he hit the finish line he "collapsed on [his] stomach for at least 5 minutes" and "was spent". I can't imagine feeling better about the day if I had gotten a better time and I know that Alex would hate the race had he stayed pace with Caroline and I. Clearly two very different ways to run a race, both ways suitable to the person.

Oh and I won a pair  of Outdoor Tiki lights as a Door Prize and we all went to a greasy spoon for some after race food (the pickins at the race were slim) ... a really great day.