Instead of being excited as I should have been, I was immediately depressed because the post-pneumonia me can't run anywhere near that fast now. But I determined to savor the knowledge of having been a fifth place record holder, run the best I could today, and to just enjoy this year's race. Overall I'm getting better even though I had a second minor bout of pneumonia two weeks ago, just two days after getting a pneumonia vaccine.
Anyway I ran as well as I could. I was pleasantly surprised that the hill that used to beat me when I first started running the hills of Staunton no longer seemed daunting; I just raced right up it. I laughed to myself as I remembered the number of times I had walked that hill during training runs when I lived in Staunton.
I watched the time and hoped for a sub-30 minute run. I hit the finish line at 28:27 according to my watch. That's my best post-pneumonia 5K run time, so I was quite pleased.
Then came the awards ceremony and the calling of the 46-55 year old female winners. The third place winner had a slower time than me, as did the second place winner. It didn't sink in that I had won the age group until they called my name. The trophy is now sitting on the shelf with other running awards. Am I ever glad I didn't let discouragement dictate my race pace.
