I’ve just woken up from a long nap. As soon as I got home, I got some more food into my body before passing out. Waking up at 4 in the morning is tough. I was fine during the event and all of the post-festivities, but as soon as I got home, the drowsiness really hit.

Being that it was taking place on the islands, my mother wanted to come along. It’s been a long time since she’d been there. My instructor encouraged everyone to bring their family anyway, so I thought, “why not?” Of course, if my mom was going, my dad wanted to accompany her, so he came along as well.

Parking around the docks is ridiculously expensive. We were only going to be on the islands for a few hours, but we had to pay a flat rate of $20. Anyway. We got on the 7 am ferry to Hanlan’s Point with the rest of my running group. Our group made a name for ourselves by offering espresso to everyone on the boat. It was kind of funny. When we got to the finish line area, we noticed that we were so early that the group running the event wasn’t quite prepared yet. They got their act together pretty quickly though.

As more and more people gathered, we noticed that the amount of participants for this run was smaller than the Whitby run. There wasn’t much of the carnival atmosphere that struck me like at the other race. We made up for that in our group by socializing and passing around food. My lemon squares were apparently a hit. Everyone kept asking if my mom made them. That’s a compliment, I guess.

Anyway, before the start, the emcee mentioned that she was struck by a group on the 7 am ferry that was offering espresso to every runner on the ferry. We all cheered profusely. WHOO! Hahah. At the starting line, we saw this group of people with a helper dog. There was this young girl there who obviously had a disability–though I couldn’t tell what it was. I was amazed that she was doing the 5K race. Kind of awe inspiring.

Anyway, the whistle came pretty quickly. I was determined to go slower so that I wouldn’t crap out so quickly like last time. Unfortunately, everyone was going so fast that once again I felt forced to keep up. I was following two others in my running group. I wanted to keep up with them in hopes for an improved time. I knew that they weren’t blazingly fast, and not usually at the rear. That sounded like a winning combination for me. We were told to keep smiling the whole way because there would be this photographer along the route. That stuck in my mind for the whole race, so I kept upright with a wide grin. Even though I was dying on the inside, I was going to look good, damn it.

Ten minutes came and went. The pair I was running with slowed to a walk and I did as well. The minute break seemed to pass in the blink of an eye, and soon they were off running again. I started up as well, but quickly, they seemed to pull up ahead of me. Oh no! I was falling behind! Yet again! Heheh. I brushed the worry aside and just kept at it. One of the pair turned behind and yelled “Jason! Are you alright?” I gave her the thumbs up and just told her that I’d be right behind her. Kind of a lie, no? I wasn’t directly behind her at all. They were pulling far ahead. That was OK though. I had no qualms about running at my own pace. I was alone (except for other runners who I didn’t know), but I was smiling.

I could tell the turnaround point was coming when I saw the fast members of my running group coming back. They cheered for me, and I cheered back. I was happy for them, but I was also in shock, like “Holy crap! They’re already coming back!” The 2K turnaround point came. My legs were already kind of tired, but I didn’t really have a choice in giving them a break. I was going slow, but always forward. By the end of the next 10 minute interval, I saw that my buddies were so far ahead, so I thought “can’t break now!” I decided to just keep going. I felt fine. I was already slow, and a break wouldn’t suddenly cause me to catch up.

3K came up, and all was well. At 4K, I saw the relatives of my running group. They were cheering for me. My parents where there clapping as well. It felt great. There was a man telling me “500 metres up, then back to the finish!” Awesome. Even though I hadn’t taken a break in ages, I thought that I couldn’t take one now being so close to the end. During the last stretch, I saw my running group members (not the fast ones though ) and each one was telling me “You’re almost there! Keep going!” Yup. Felt great. At the last few hundred metres, I could hear the announcer calling out people crossing the line. I knew that I was really close. At 250m, another racer started pulling up beside me and started passing. I don’t know what it was, but I decided to giv’er just like last time. My group was cheering for me. “YEAH, JASON!” The announcer said “…aaaand here comes #215, deciding to finish strong!” Yup. Had to. I pumped my legs as fast as they would go. Once again, I didn’t see the time on the clock. It was all just a big blur. It felt so awesome to have my running group cheering for me. So much support. You can’t get that genuine feeling any other way, you know?

Race results were posted pretty soon after. Turns out I did it in 36:30. I’d beaten my old best by 2:32! Fantastic! Yes, I’m still slow. I will continue to be slow for a long time. However, I know that I’m making improvements. This encourages me to work harder in my 5K clinic. I want to do my best because I know that it’s paying off.