The 5K that almost wasn't

A few weeks ago I registered for a 5K for tonight at 7pm (about 90 mins ago as I type).

I got home from work around 4:45pm, got some dinner, and relaxed while waiting. I planned to leave the house about 5:45ish to get to registration around 6:15 (due to traffic thru town) and have plenty of time to relax and get ready for the start.

So I'm all dressed in my race gear, watching the clock......it's 30 minutes after the hour and my daughter suddenly says "Mom, it's SIX thirty!". OH *kitten*!!

I grab my iPod and inhaler, we jump in the car, and gun it to the race. At 8 minutes before the race I can only get within 2.5 blocks of the start, due to closed roads, and I haven't registered yet (and don't know where registration is located).

I found the last spot in a parking lot, threw the keys at my daughter, sprinted the 2.5 blocks towards the starting line, and found the water table for after the race. "I'm late! Where is registration??". They pointed around the corner, down an alley, across a parking lot, into the library and down the stairs. Holy crap!

So off I sprinted to registration, and had 4 minutes to go. The registration lady helped me get my chip timer on my shoe and pointed me toward the bathroom. Ran to the bathroom while pinning my number on my shirt, then back up the stairs, across the parking lot, thru the alley (the clock tower started chiming the top of the hour!!), and towards the start line.

Fortunately my daughter was right there do I could give her my goodie bag and I hopped into the crowd. I literally had like 20 seconds before they started the race, but because there were a lot of people, and I was near the back, I had a short walk up to the starting line to catch my breath before I started.

HOLY HELL. not my best time (31:45 I think....I don't know since I forgot my watch but was wearing my HRM chest strap - ugh), but I got a bit of a workout in before I even started!

Not a workout I'd recommend, but I'm so making up a cool exercise for this one!