Pot O Gold

 Mexican Irish! That's me..Mother was a "Murdock" and Father was a "Gonzales".  It is kinda funny seeing a Mexican dressed  like this wearing something other than a sombrero! I dressed up for work today and got a lot of chuckles. My response was the famous quote " Growing Old is mandatory Growing Up is optional.








I have been sick and in bed the last 2 nights before 9:30.  Trying to get myself prepared for tonight's race. Sinus infection: Self Diagnose! Runny nose, head ache, sneezing..sneezing and more sneezing! Ibuprofen and NyQuil my invitation to sleep.

 The race was in downtown Flint. And the weather was 77 degrees.
Andy had me do some strides and warm up.

This race marks the first race of the season.

I paced myself well using my Garmin to maintain my pace. I was coming up on a woman that had a BAA outfit on. I was so nervous to pass her. I was already at full capacity and was afraid she would kick it into gear if I came up on her. I looked down at my Garmin to see that as I was trailing her we were running 7:45 min miles. I had my goal set at a 7:30 pace. Just then I thought. "Anita, You run YOUR OWN RACE, if she kicks it up thats OK, You know what your goal is, stick to it." And with that I slowly passed her. We were running with a headwind and up hill with less than a half of a mile to go. She never came back around to finish me off.

I turned that last corner to see the finish line. With everything left in me I turned my legs over. Keeping my head up and eyes focused on the clock I continued to pass people and finish in under my goal time. I was so happy. I Ran my Own Race with my own goal.

As I took my place on the sidelines to cheer Andy in, a woman came over to me and said "NICE Race, You finished well."  It was the Boston Marathon Woman. That made me feel great. This is what racing and running is all about, encouraging one another and recognizing the hard work and pain we all are enduring.

 I took 1st place in my age Division, which was actually pretty competitive! It is great to get first place in your bracket but believe it or not it is even better to achieve YOUR PERSONAL GOAL. I was happy I got to celebrate both.

I beat my time from last year,  29:28 where I took 2nd place. This years time was 29:08.
Now the real kicker will be tomorrow when I am supposed to do my long run.
And ANDY TOOK 2nd Place in his DIVISION!! So proud of him!


Good night, I am exhausted, I am going to take my kleenex to bed and wish for the best!!

BTW..Thanks for all the words or encouragment!

Anita