What are You Doing at 6:15 am on Saturday?

Beep beep…beep beep…beep BEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!. The alarm goes off and I awake in disbelief that morning has come so quickly. As I lean over to kiss Myles on the shoulder, and hear his incoherent “good luck” the thought hits me as it always does on Saturday mornings: “Am I insane”? Honestly, who in their right mind willing gets up early on a Saturday to push their body to the limit in a race leaving their groggy and oh-so-sexy husband asleep in a warm cosy bed? I push the thought aside, and stumble like a drunk to the kitchen and the smell of fresh coffee lifts my spirits instantly. (Shout out to the inventor of the programmable coffee maker.) After my first cup of coffee and ½ a banana I’ve almost forgot my insanity. I get ready with my sister in a running outfit laid out the night before, we grab our ipods, and a bottle of water and hit the door. In typical sister form we are running late to the race, and after a near collision and scramble to find a parking place we start jogging towards the start, and ½ way there we hear the gun go off. “HURRY” I yell to Anna, adrenaline pumping as I make a split second decision to run as a bandit and forgo my timed entry rather than start the race late. We pick up with the pack less than 2/10 of a mile from the start and we’re off. Despite the fact that we are late, and we had hopped to make a pit stop before the start, I’m feeling great. Amazing in fact, and quickly realize I’m going to run a fast race. I fly down the first stretch of the 5 miler barely stopped to throw back some water, and at the turn around I still feel strong, picking up speed the cool morning air giving me wings. I finished the race with a PR-it was wonderful. And then there is was, that feeling crossing the finish line, the euphoric sense of accomplishment-the sense of winning. No I didn’t win, the race, didn’t come in first in my age group, and was passed towards the end by a lean man pushing a stroller. However, I won for myself; my 8:20 split was my fasted 5 mile pace ever. I won against myself. Anna soon joined me and we headed to the refreshment tables. We found a sunny stop to sit in the warm grass, and enjoy our bounty: egg and potato filled taquitos, pizza, fruit, and beer. Yes, low calorie ice cold beer. I’m quite sure I’ve never had beer and pizza at 9am and its never tasted so good. A personal best, a beautiful day, the drug like endorphins cursing through my body, and a profound feeling of camaraderie with the 2k+ runners. Then I remember. This is why I keep coming back. This is why I run.