Race day

I ran a 10K this morning.
I had found a race over a year ago when I was searching distance runs online.  I search quite a few races online but this one caught my interest.  That year I had just missed it by a few weeks but the distance and the location really pulled me in. It was in January and I would need to drive 5 hours south to get there but that meant it would be warmer.  That was a big plus in its favor.  Then the race didn't actually start until an unusually late 10:00am.  Most races start much earlier in the mornings.  That late start meant that the temperatures would have a chance to get even higher.  That was another big bonus.  I am all for warmer temperatures.  The best part was that I wouldn't be in unfamiliar territory.  In fact, I am so familiar with this area that I knew exactly where the starting line was and I knew exactly where we would finish.  It only made me want to participate even more when the run would actually take us over water.  Now, come on, how much more could I ask for to make it a better run?  I knew I would need to keep it in mind for the next time around.
So I would check and search for it every so often.  It took a while before the new date was finally posted but once I knew when it was I wrote it down and kept my eye on it.  I would go back and check every so often to see if the site had any other updates.  I didn't really need to check since I was already pretty informed about what would take place.  I only needed to make arrangements.  I thought about taking a Friday off to drive and pick up my packet.  I would then have to stay overnight and then either drive back after the race or stay another day.  I hadn't worked it all out.
As the date got closer I was realizing the timing of traveling to this race might not work.  I tried to figure out how it could be done but kept running into one reason or another why it wasn't working out so well.  It was one of those times where it just wasn't as convenient to get everything properly lined up.
The race was today at 10:00am.  I didn't go and I missed it.
But I did go to the gym today and purposely ran a 10K at about the same time this run was taking place.  I didn't have a race bib and I wasn't lined up with hundreds of other runners but I was thinking about the starting line and moving over that water as I ran.  I wasn't flanked by other participants but I was lined up with other runners on either side of me.  I had a rough time at mile 3.25 but kept pushing through knowing I was half way there.  It could have been that same way if I was running 5 driving hours away instead of at the gym on a treadmill.
So I didn't run the actual race but I did run a 10K today.  I could be feeling really bad about missing it but I don't.  I feel really good about today.
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