He can't be beaten, except by violence

Sorry to disappoint, ladies, but the boy remains undefeated - at least by me. However, after we had both (separately!) crossed the finish line, I firmly planted my foot on his posterior, thus effectively, as promised, "kicking Michael's ass".

The day began inauspiciously for me, as I woke up in the middle of the "night" (2pm, for us shiftworkers) to a screaming Charley horse in my right calf. I have NO idea how it could have happened - I have been exercising moderately - and that's a generous statement - and I consumed plenty of water last night, as well as several salty foods. Really, I'm at a loss - but it happened nonetheless, there was no denying it. Ouchie ouch ouch!

Next, there were bus issues: we were being shuttled from Union station to the start of the race, as the area cannot support heavy traffic. The buses, however, got themselves mired in their own downtown Toronto mayhem, and it was 6:40 by the time we finally got to board one - race start time 7pm, and us with our numbers still to pick up! I was pretty antsy, but the race staff on board assured us that the gun would wait, if need be. In the end, the race was pushed back to 7:10, Michael and I dashed around pinning on our numbers, collecting our timing chips, and taking a lightning-fast pee break - then bam! with barely a moment to gather my thoughts, we were off!

It was hot and muggy, the air was putrid, and we had fabulous views of Toronto's waterfront smokestacks. Charming, altogether. But the day got decidedly better from there. I went out strong, managing the first kilometer in 5:10 - phew, smoking! I tried to keep it up, but had to settle into a slightly slower rhythm before long in order to avoid complete meltdown. No ambulance for me - I had checked out the paramedics staffing the race, and sad to say, they were not up to par. Normally, I would be totally okay with being carted off by a hot paramedic. I am all over them. But alas, they were very plain, and I was forced to run my race to the end :)

I did nearly lose it in the fourth km - always the hardest one for me, as you are so close to needing that final kick, but not close enough to believe it. By the time the finish line finally drew into sight, I didn't have much left. My legs could probably have picked it up a notch, but my stomach was twisted in knots. It's always the thing that holds me back! Grrr. But I have my priorities clearly defined: giving up a few seconds on a race time is, in my books, well worth saving the nastiness and embarrassment of hurling my lunch all over the finish line. Still, I cruised in steadily, and after a bit of a cooldown was able to muster up appearances enough to look appropriately post-race glamorous (blogger, why don't you let me post photos? grrr...)

The results? Sorry everyone, I know you're disappointed, but there will be no naked dancing in the rain. Yet there is plenty of joy: taking a whopping 1min 25sec off my previous PR, I squeaked in with a very satisfactory 27:20 chip time (27:39 by the gun - but who cares about that, really?). Michael and I got to exchange a high-five on the out-and-back course as he zoomed past the halfway point and I struggled towards it, but that was all we saw of each other: he whumped me soundly in 22:15 (22:34). His first 5k!!! Ah, c'est la vie. He was very gracious about it, though :) And don't we look super cool, reunited at the end?

Here are the rest of the vitals, because I love my stats:

Overall place: 548/1113
Gender place: 171/581
Category place: 24/64
Pace per km: 5:32 (8:54 per mile - wheee! SO lovin' the sub-9!!! I would give you my exact splits, but Garmin is being funky right now. I don't know why - she was so good for the whole race. Must be PMS. Garmin and Blogger are riding the same wave.)

After the race, we did inventory of the "post-race party" - aka some random band is singing, some brave souls are drinking beer, and most of us are just shuffling around with wide eyes, trying to score as much free food as possible. We got schwag. And we love it!

Then, a true treat: for the first time in my (albeit short) racing career, I actually got to have a post-race massage! Usually there are such crazy lineups for those, but I guess everyone was enjoying the beer out back. WONDERFUL! I did consider asking the massage therapist to marry me. But she might have been weirded out by that. Still, it probably happens to her often :)

Another great day, another great race, and Liv to run is a happy camper. And a tired one. I think it's time to pack it in. Time. For. Some. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.........................