Drum Roll Please: Pot O GOLD 2013

"Paula" and I running Pot O Gold in Flint

  If you're enough lucky to be Irish, you're lucky enough!  ~Irish Saying 

HAPPY St PATTYS day everyone! Believe it or not I actually have quite a bit of Irish in me. My Uncle Danny used to call me "Little Anthony Quinn" because I am Mexican and Irish. This is a passionate combination as I am sure you can tell. Between the whiskey drinking and bad tempers or the hat dancing and tequila there was never a dull moment growing up!

Ran into "Kirt"

The last few years I have enjoyed celebrating the Luck of the Irish with a road race held annually in Flint. The Pot o Gold Race is one of my favorites. It is local, well organized and the unofficial 1st race of the season. 
 With the temperatures being so cold I had already convinced myself I was not going to do as good as last year. 
When the gun went off I left "Paula" and started praying. They changed the route a little bit and my body was not liking the turns and incline. 
At mile 2 I thought "Just Finish". It seemed as though I was running in place. I could not catch my breath, I begged my body to relax and tried to will my heart to stillness. I was thinking "Mind over Matter". And my body was saying "I HATE YOU, NITA"  
I tried to keep "Daddy Long Legs" in my eyesight. He was this guy who  looked like he was running effortlessly and I felt like I was going to keel over. I thought my heart really was going to stop. 
As I finished mile 2- I was feeling a little better. I had good music, I could hear myself talking rationally and my movements felt precise. The road had flattened out and the turns were lessened if only for a little bit.  Between mile 3 and 4 pain revisited. My body was not falling for anymore word games or coaxing. I was not able to convince my body that this was normal. There was nothing NORMAL about my lungs wanting to collapse or my legs wanting to buckle underneath me. Nope, this was the part of the race that I have to Suck it UP and see myself at the FINISH.

Keeping it Simple:

• Last Years Time: 29:08
• Last Years weather 80's
• This Years weather 27 degrees
• This Years Time: 28:19...PR!!!! I was the 3rd FEMALE to cross the finish line!

SOO we have a WINNER for the contest!!!! DRUM ROLE PLEASE!! 
"Mark M"  Guessed my time by 1 SECOND!

Andy had to stay home for the junior high small group that we have every Sunday at our house. So this was the first year I had to pull up my big girl pants and drive down alone.
But last week I recruited "Paula" to run with me and drive with me too.
"Paula" and I get mistaken as sisters all the time. We are both Mexican, petite and a "bit high energy". 
We also grew up around addiction and choose not to drink. 

Walking to the registration table before the race you could tell the party had already started. I really HATE ALCOHOL. I hate what it does, I hate what people turn into, I hate the destruction it leads behind -I hate EVERYTHING about it. 
There were "Budweiser" cans everywhere as we entered the tent. You could smell the sourness of the alcohol waffling through the air. That stale breath smell was strong and inviting memories I didn't want to travel to. I could not get out of there fast enough. 
I enjoy celebrating St Patricks Day but I guess I do not understand this:
Why does a "Saint" have a holiday that is centered around getting DRUNK? It is like a Oxymoron to me.
Seriously...Can someone explain this to me? 

How I celebrate St Patricks Day:

• Corned Beef and Cabbage
• Wear goofy Green pins and accessories
• Run my St Pattys Race
• Embrace My Irishness~

 Never iron a four-leaf clover, because you don't want to press your luck.  ~Author Unknown

ANITA