Yes indeed there is a race to report!

Distance: 5 miles
Time: 49:05
mile 1: 9:18
mile 2: 9:40
mile 3: 11:00
mile 4: 9:32
mile 5: 9:35

I felt ok when I woke up this morning - plenty of sleep again which has made
a great difference.  My legs down through my feet weren't as swollen as they
were even yesterday though my hands, face, and torso are still holding a lot
of the water.  I only lost 5 of the 20 pounds of water so far.  If my feet
had still been swollen I wouldn't have had a choice but to stay home.

As I expected, the environment of the race served to provide a little energy
boost.  I was no longer shooting for 45 min and after a brief warmup run I
figured I'd be happy with 50-55 min.  There were over 500 people registered
by the starting time.  I started toward the back, took 12 seconds to cross
the starting line and off I went.  The first mile was the hardest - I
couldn't believe how long it took, then as they were calling out the times
and I heard 9:18 I realized I was right where I wanted to be and doing
better than I thought.

That gave me enough energy to get through the next mile pretty easily and
then due to my experiences in training and counting my breaths I knew I had
to pull back a tad for the 3rd mile or risk not having enough to finish.
There were some uphill grades in the third mile, plus the turnaround at the
2.5 mile point, but I was saving myself for miles 4 & 5.

The last two miles weren't hard, but I had a hard time breathing.  It was
around 30 degrees and we were on streets with traffic so the fumes from
trucks and from fireplaces & woodstoves all served to interfere with my
breathing.  This is where the extra poundage really came into play to try
and screw things up.  I was starting to peak at the end of the 4th mile but
I could hear *all* of you (even having never actually heard your voices)
cheering me on.

About .3 mile before the finish, a friend of mine who already finished had
doubled back and found me and ran the end with me providing coaching and
support.  I did a full sprint into the finish chute and was kind of shocked
to see the clock.  I thought I'd lost time with the breathing trouble.  DH
was at the finish and had my bag with everything.  A little water, a shot of
albuterol and I was good to go :)

I didn't place in either the weight or age division and I didn't really
expect to.  I finished and did better than I thought I would since a few
days ago I thought I might not even be in the race.

Thanks again for all of your support.  I think it helped me take this on in
spite of the difficulties I've been having.  Off to a loooong hot bath, some
hot tea, and early to bed.

Jenn