Parents, a princess and a pirate

Repeat!

I ran Jordan's Journey 5K this morning. I won my age division last year and was hoping to defend my title this year. But with my injuries this year, I wasn't sure that would happen. I really wanted to break 25 mins. But my speed hasn't been very good since I've been back to running.

There were about 100 runners all lined up in the church parking lot. At 9:15, the firetruck sounded it's horn to signal the start of the race and we were off. I felt great, no Achilles or hip problems. I started off fast, which is so easy when you're running with a group. But by 1/2 mile, the group spread out and I found a good pace. I settled in behind the Ben Davis HS XC coach who goes to our church. The man is a serious runner, has finished every Indianapolis Mini Marathon there has been - like 35 of them! I run past a volunteer who shouts out to me and the 2 girls near me "You're 2nd, 3rd and 4th for the girls." I hadn't thought about finishing in the top 3, just winning my age division. So now I'm thinking, ok, don't let any girls pass you! One of the girls who was near me dropped back about a mile into it and her friend passed me. She was young, easily still in high school and seemed to just keep getting further in front! But I kept right behind the XC coach and relaxed into the run. My Garmin read 7:48 for the first mile, I knew I was flying at the beginning, got to slow down some. I pass the water stop at 1.5 miles and was still feeling good.

Mile two comes and my Garmin says 15:50, so mile 2 was 8:02, still a very good time. I figure I can hold on to this pace. About 2.5 miles my stomach starts to feel bad, I figure, ok, you can't puke here, in someone's yard. So I work on my breathing and some positive chanting and the sick feeling passes. I pass the first volunteer who yelled "You're number 3 for the girls!" I turn a corner and see the finish line so I push a little at the end to finish. Hit my Garmin when I cross the finish line - 23:57!! 7:58 pace, very cool and very fast! Woo-hoo! I do some cool down stretches and head into the church for a banana and Starbucks.

They hold the awards ceremony and I was pretty happy to hear "And in 3rd place overall for the females - Mary Nabb." I won a pecan pie and a $8 gift certificate to a running store. Cool! I checked the on-line results when I got home. The two girls who beat me were both 16 years old and probably on the cross country team. And there was another 34 year old who finished 15 seconds behind me, good thing I kept up the pace.

So, pretty darn happy that I could race fast again, felt really darn good too.