This week was a good one considering my knee gave out on me last Sunday in the half marathon. I went by Walmart and picked up a knee strap and began using it right away. The beginning of the week I walked and slowly jogged and felt really good by the end of the week. Taking it easy kept me from having to stay off of my knee completely. As a matter of fact, once I began wearing the strap, the pain subsided completely. Now, I'm afraid to go without it...it's become my security blanket. On Thursday, I ran 4 miles at a comfortable pace and followed that with a mile of speedwork (2x400 walking with equal 2x400 race pace). I felt great and had no pain.

Kent had signed up for a 5k just down the road from here and I decided not to run since I had so much trouble in the half. I certainly didn't want to do more damage and keep me from running completely. But by the time Friday got here, I could hardly wait to race again. So Saturday morning we headed out. It was a cool morning and a great day to race. For some reason, I got the jitters. It's funny because sometimes I do and sometimes I don't...and this doesn't seem to be related to a distance or location. It just hits me sometimes.

As it turned out, I bettered my 5k time since the marathon by over a minute from the last one I'd run. I feel like I'm on the way up again. Also, (and this won't happen again) I was the 4th woman to cross the line!! I was as excited about this as I was about anything else. I received 1st place in my age group (it figures). The lady right in front of me was in my age group so she got Grand Masters...shoot!! As a matter of fact, I'd race against her a couple of times and have come ahead of her. She told me this was a good time for her and I knew it wasn't for me. She was behind me in the Azalea Trail this year and after me in a 5k I ran last May in Orange Beach. Kent did very well, too. He came in 2nd overall racewalking getting that award! He is improving his time so fast. I'm so proud of him! He's my hero...he's strong, persistent, and committed to improving his health!



This race was connected with the German Festival. We had seafood gumbo and let me tell you it was some of the best I'd ever eaten!! It had large shrimp, crabmeat and chicken in every bite...hmmmm, good. A local restaurant, Wolfbay Lodge, provided it for the runners. There were bananas, tangerines, hot dogs and bags of strawberries/bananas and pineapple chips. We left with a German sausage dog and German potato salad in hand. It was a really nice day and filled with lots of family fun.