Things to consider...

When you dress the morning of your 5k race, there are some extremely important things to consider...

What will the weather be like during race time?

Do you need gloves and a hat or will a visor suffice?

Where are my favorite running socks?

Does the underwear that I'm about to put on have a tendency to fall down?

You see, I've primarily been focused on triathlons, and that had some very specific gear that makes you forget about everything else.

I have a wet suit, swim cap and goggles for the swim. My bike gloves, helmet and sunglasses for the bike. And tennis shoes and visor for the run.

All of it done in what are known as tri shorts and tri tops. They're made of quick wicking materials to help you dry off quickly when coming out of the water or when covered in yucky sweat. They have all the necessary undergarments built in so it's a no-brainer.

For some reason, sports bras seem like a no-brainer as well.

Underwear...well, not so much.

The Muddy Monster 5k was last Saturday.

I set off to the park about 9 am. It was the first clear day in almost a week of rain and I arrived in the first wave of traffic.

I found a parking spot, gathered my race number and my Nike+ iPod and was off to the starting line.

Not only had it been rainy all week, but it had been cold, and this morning was no different.

As I stretched out, I surveyed the other runners and familiar feelings began to settle over me.

What the hell was I doing here?

I am NOT a runner.

Technically, a triathlete, sure.

But not a runner.

I started thinking to myself how easy would it be to duck out. I hadn't seen anyone that I knew, so it would be a piece of cake to slink back to my car and drive away from the park and the hordes of runners with their .5% body fat.

But I forced myself to stay.

I wasn't doing this to compete with them.

I was doing this for myself.

I continued to stretch until it was time for the runners to take our marks. Okay, so to more accurately describe it, crowd into a starting pen like veal.

We set off and I quickly knew that I was in trouble.

I had put on a "comfy" pair of undies earlier that morning, completely forgetting that every time I throw them into the dirty laundry hamper, that I think to myself that I should really throw them out instead.

Sigh.

I tried to discreetly to tug them back up, knowing full well that the t-shirt and sweatshirt I had layered would cover me up in the event of disaster.

I did okay.

This run was called the Muddy Monster because it was a trail run, something that I had been looking forward to since I wasn't very well conditioned to run on concrete or even asphalt.

I held my own for the first two songs into my iPod. I could feel the freezing air that I was drawing into my lungs really start to affect my breathing. I hadn't really trained outside in the cold and I was conditioned for that either.

I ran/walked off and on, trying very hard to do more running than walking, until I hit the mile and a half marker. My right hip had tightened up, making running very, very uncomfortable. I decided that I wasn't going to push it since this was my season closer.

In the end, my time blew. I seriously overshot my goal.

I crossed the finish line, waited while a nice girl removed the timing chip from my shoe and then headed straight for the timing tent.

I got there so quickly that I had to wait a couple of minutes for the system to update with my race times. I didn't even look at it as I headed to the warmth of my car.

Disappointing?

Yes.

All in all though, it was a good first season I think.

I pushed boundaries, made new friends, beat some goals and fell short on others.

I learned that I can put my face in water and not worry about drowning. And now, not only do I know what a dérailleur is, but I know how to tune it myself.

I know and understand the importance of consistency.

That some days training will kick ass, and other days I'll feel like I should have stayed in bed.

I'll bounce back, I am elastic.

Just hope my underwear is too.