Gay Pride

Saturday was the Front Runners Lesbian and Gay Pride run. I had seen many runners in Front Runners singlets at races in the past, but I had no idea how big the club was. The event had a great vibe, and a lot of that was due to the Front Runners that were there volunteering and running.

I entered my assigned starting corral and immediately spotted a bevy of Flyers, both old friends and new faces. We chatted and there were a few introductions. There were some folks there that I would have liked to have kept pace with, but I knew that on this day, it wasn't going to happen. When the race started, I fell in behind one of the Flyers I had just met, J.E. 

I was able to stay with him, but it was an ambitious pace. I decided to go with it, and let him pull me along. We ended up running the first few miles side by side. There was no conversation, but there was a nice teammate vibe. 

I knew, from the heaviness of my breathing and the ease of J.E.s breathing, that he would be ditching me before the race was over, and as expected, I fell back around Cat Hill. Unfortunately, J.E. stayed in sight, which meant that I had to continue to give it my all. I finished with a 35:04 (7:00 pace), which is pretty good considering that I'm just starting to get back into shape.

Most importantly, I felt as high as a kite at the end of the race. I had really pushed myself, and it felt great. The vibe of the event, chatting with teammates afterwards, and the satisfaction of leaving everything I had on the road made this a high point of my month.

I have a ways to go before I'll be able to PR again, but if this race was any indication, I'm going to enjoy getting there.