Runnin' on Empty

Today was a beautiful day for a race, especially one where I came in under my last time and have a new personal best! It's not a huge margin, but by golly, I'm still proud of myself. I'm especially pleased, because I had several things going against me in this race.

1. I forgot my left orthotic at home. Considering I've been wearing these all my life, I'm rather amazed that I managed to overlook its absence until I was in the car. Initially, I was all systems go about it, but after about a mile, I could really tell that something was off. Now, my left leg hurts significantly more than my right.
2. No iPod. Stupid race rules that I didn't break and everyone else did.
3. Really lame music over the PA system coming down the home stretch. I'm sorry, but "Runnin' on Empty" and "I Will Survive" aren't exactly motivating.
4. A jerk of a race commentator. As we listened to him making comments during the kids 1K Fun Run, I noted that I really hoped he wasn't there when I came through the end. He was, but I was glad he didn't make any comments specifically to me. I did however, hear these gems:
1. "This guy looks like a football linebacker, but here he is coming through the finish line in under 40 minutes."
2. "That looks more like a leisurely jog to me." (Ain't nothing leisurely about it. I'd like to see you try it.)
3. "It's one thing to be out here when you weigh 140; it's totally another if you weigh more." (Honestly, if this had been about me, I might have smacked him. I wanted to anyway.)
4. Not from him, but from some smug teenage boys acting as spotters "You can run faster than that!" I actually responded by pointing to braces on my both my ankles and said "Look at these and tell me to run faster." They both winced, but I don't know how much it helped.
   

Hearing things like "Woohoo!", "You're almost done!", "That's the last big hill!", and "No more hills!" are motivating, and I appreciated them quite a bit. That's the kind of thing I like to hear. Hopefully, the people at my next race will leave their smug attitudes at home.