**I know, I’m posting all these recaps very very late. I’m also trying not to post them all at the same time so as to not annoy everyone who subscribes to this blog. Soon we will be up to date 🙂 **

This was my first race back after surgery and to say I was nervous was an understatement. I almost puked before it started! My friend German joined me for this race, his 2nd real race. Waking up at 5am was definitely not an easy thing but it is something you get used to when doing early morning races. This race did not start till 7am which was good since the summer heat and humidity just get worse after the sun rises. This race fell almost exactly 3 weeks after I was cleared to start running again, 9 weeks after surgery so I did not have that much time to prepare for it and try to get my pace back.

My aunt and her friends also did this race, wearing headbands with flags all over them. I got as patriotic as wearing a red tank top. I started at the front because I did not want to waste too much energy weaving around people like usual. And of course someone dropped their phone right as they started and people started tripping and jumping over the lady. My pace was strong and fast at the first mile and then just before getting to the 2nd mile I started falling apart and having to walk. Mentally I was just not ready to start racing again and physically still had a ways to go in getting back to where I left off. At the turnaround part I looked back and spotted German, I thought I was seeing things because no way is he as fast as I am, that’s when I pushed myself to keep going. Plus I was having issues with my IHeartRadio app on my phone, it kept skipping songs & pausing so I was fumbling with my phone the 2nd half of the race. I walked for about 15 seconds a few times and watching runners pass me on the turn was starting to make me feel dizzy. I think it was probably anxiety about this race, making it something bigger than it was and I’ve since realized I can’t do that with any race. In the end I finished about the same time as my first ever race back last October. I was disappointed in myself but quickly started looking for my friends, German & Mariajose and ready to cheer them on at the end. After German made it slightly slower than me, I got my camera out of the car and prepared it for when my aunt and Mariajose would be about to cross the finish line.

I caught them both! Afterwards we walked around and got some stuff from the sponsors and hung out with my aunt, who insisted on taking a pic with me. The Weston Fire Dept had their fire truck splashing water down at the end if you chose to run through it, I preferred to not, but it looked like fun! In the end I know it was too soon to race & the weather was also against me but it was a nice experience and I hope to do the race again next year. Afterwards I went home and napped for a few hours,  then went to my first ever comic convention, SuperCon. It was a very long day but very fun 4th of July.