Racing Again

I finally decided to step up the start line again.  My plan was to run my first race on Jan 1st but for some reason I agreed to be part of two team efforts before the end of the year. 

I know I'm in trouble when my friend Laurie calls me and says, "what are you doing next weekend?"   She was looking to field a women's team for the USATF NE Grand Prix XC Championships and they needed one more body.  Anyone in their right mind would not agree to this when they haven't raced in a year.  This isn't some local XC race, this is some serious shit.  But, I said yes...

I started googling past results because my biggest fear is that I might come in last.  Not my usual position, but given my current shape and the caliber of women I would be racing against, it was a legitimate concern.  Then I also went back and looked up the last time I ran this race, which was in 2007.  Ugh.  

I didn't come in last but I was definitely at the back of the pack.  I ran hard.  Really hard.  It hurt, a lot.  And I still posted a really slow time.  I'm okay with it though because you have to start somewhere.  I had to throw that fear of posting slow times out the window and just tell myself to run and know that I will get back in shape, one race at a time. 

Here we are, me, Abby, Laurie, and Sarah.  We had a great time!! 

We are all running at Mill Cities Relay on 12/2.