Ran Gainesville's Depot Parkrun 5K This Morning

When I stepped outside my front door around 6:30 this morning I already knew it would be foggy, but not to the extent that the fog was loud. The moisture was so thick that it was interacting with all the surrounding tree leaves to present the audio illusion of rain, yet I felt no drops falling on me.  Normally at this time of the morning...especially on Saturdays...I am safely tucked away in my bed sound asleep, but today I had somewhere to go.  In Gainesville we are blessed with a free weekly 5K racing opportunity on Saturdays at 7:30 am, the location always being Depot Park just south of downtown.  I had run the Depot Parkrun four times in the past starting in January 2019, the last time being on June 20th this year, four weeks before I underwent open heart surgery to replace a defective valve and repair an aortic aneurism.  Today's adventure was my first race since the operation, but going by my recent running training I was confident that I would be OK...the hardest part of it all was driving back and forth across town in the thick fog.  You couldn't ask for friendlier people among those volunteering to hold this event...if I make it a more regular activity, I'll be volunteering as well.  We were all cautioned just before the race that the fog (humidity 100% at 54 degrees) was causing the pathway to be a bit slick...good advice!  For about two thirds of the race I ran at a reasonably slow pace and then "put the pedal to the metal" the rest of the way, finishing with a time of 33:03, 3 seconds faster than my June race.  Over the years my speed has slowed (I'm 65 now), but I'm taking it all "in stride" and emphasizing covering the distance...hopefully in future years I'll continue to be fully mobile, with my running adventures eventually transforming into walking adventures (actually I'm already having a few of those).  Today's experience was very encouraging...