I had been checking the weather and thought it was suppose to be cooler this a.m. but unfortunately it was about 74 degrees, sunny and hot. Even tho I wanted to I didn't back out.
The race was at 8:00 a.m. and would start in their parking lot. All morning before the race I felt bad with the normal nervousness that always rears it's ugly face before any race. I have the worse case of dry mouth and my tongue feels like it's way too big for my mouth. This too is a normal occurrence for me.
The race starts and as usual I know I am running too fast to try and keep up with the boys. I just did a lot of heavy breathing and kept pushing. Finally out into the neighborhood we went. It was partially shaded which is always welcomed.
As I was rounding the first turn there my hubbie was telling me I was the fourth woman. He hollared I might be able to catch the third place girl. I thought, yeah right, you're not in this body.
At the first split I pulled a 7 minute pace. Wow! My best ever. About this point in time my mind was beginning it's constant war. My stomach was still bothering me and my breathing was so loud. I was probably scarring people as I came upon them.
At the second mile split, 7:26; music to my ears. This too was my best 2 mile split. Just up ahead was the 3rd place woman. She seemed to be slowing and to my surprise, I wasn't. I passed her and continued on. It wasn't much longer that I came upon the second place girl. She had really been running hard but all of a sudden it was like she ran out of steam. So, happily I ran on past her.
At this point, the war in my head was getting bigger. My lungs were begging to stop, my legs were feeling okay and I was trying to think of anything to get my mind off of how I was feeling. I was asking God to help me and I was singing Amazing Grace in my head. I thought of a statement I had read in a running book a couple weeks ago that said "your body is capable of a lot if you let it".
The next thing I knew I had side stitches. I haven't experienced those in a long while. Luckily it was on a down hill. At this point in the race, I didn't have a clue how far away I was but all of a sudden I started hearing cheering. I knew I must be close to the finish.
I was never so thankful to see the gate that lead back in JA and into the track field. I didn't see the finish line but knew it was there.
As I entered the field my sweet hubbie was there cheering me on. It means a lot to have your own personal cheerleader.
As I rounded the curve I looked back and saw the finish line and the clock. I couldn't believe my eyes. As I went under the clock, it read 22:30; my best time ever.
I've been telling my husband if I ever finish a race and I feel good then that tells me I didn't run hard enough. Today, I felt horrible at the finish.
Not only was I the second woman to cross the finish line but I got to bring home this baby. It's the Grand Masters Female trophy. Now I can say I feel good.
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