My name is Erin.... and I'm a runner.

April 25th.... 10:04am.... Madison, WI.... capitol square

Standing on the street with the majority of the other 10,000 people preparing to run the Crazy Legs Classic....

LIGHTNING and THUNDER rolling overhead....

Being soaked to the skin.... literally....

Knowing that Jim in queue C is just starting off.... and that I have a bit of a wait being in queue JJ....

Pouring rain.... absolutely soaked...

A brief thought of "why am I doing this?" flashes through my mind....

Followed quickly by the thought of "what's next?" (as in what race could I run in May?)....

I'm thankful for my fortunate trip to the Nike outlet for the moisture wicking running pants...

And all of a sudden, the downpour of rain doesn't seem so bad and not as cold as I expected...

Our queue is moving toward the starting line slowly.... I manage to merge myself in with the HH and II queue in front of me.... we're three groups from starting finally.... at 10:30am

It's our turn, the air horn sounds and we're off and it's crowded despite all the queues they divided us up into....

My heart is in my throat from all the initial excitement and adrenaline of being in a race with all these people.... strangers, but friends all at the same time....

I'm completely drenched, but being soaked thru to the skin doesn't seem to bother me at all, I don't notice the puddles I'm running through....

Observatory Hill.... ugggghhhh!

Notice an older gentleman who seems to drop behind me for about 400 yards, then catches and passes me the next 400..... then slowly drops back again..... and I say that it's nice to have someone to watch for that runs a similar pace.... he smiles and chuckles and introduces himself as Glen....

I catch myself running and talking at the same time.... wow, so that's what it feels like...

Mile 3: Glen and I are keeping pace with each other... and will finish the race together....

I couldn't tell you how happy I was to see the 4 mile mark and how really short that last mile actually seemed... (okay, a .97 mile)

A little hill before we round the corner into the stadium.... people are clapping, cheering, band is playing....

Down the slippery slope into the stadium.... the turf is so bouncy it almost catches me off guard and makes me trip right before the finish line....

I remember to smile this time for the cameras before I cross the finish line - wasn't hard to do, was tired, but not completely worn out.

Thank Glen for being my running buddy and wish him well on his continued sobriety - guess I'm not the only one who took up running to help distract from/heal the pain of other issues in life....

Look around for Jim and/or Leah.... make a couple phone calls and decide to just head out as the rain starts up again....

Thank God that..... I had the best of parking spots.... in a free lot right across from the stadium... and mildly intrigued by Mad town where I wouldn't mind exploring it a bit more when I haven't just finished an 8K race.

Changing into a dry shirt and covering my car seat with a towel, jacket, etc. to keep the rest of me from soaking through the cushion....

Smiling as I consider myself a "real" runner now.

Now, what race should I run in May???

(Trying to make a decision between a 1/4 marathon in Madison on 5/24 or a 10K in Port Washington on 5/31.... decisions, decisions....)

I love this stuff.....

Erin