Mud & Chocolate

This morning I ran in my first official race.

No, wait. This morning I ran/walked in my first official race, because about halfway through, my knee said "NO WAY, WOMAN."

But nevermind. The point is that I trained for it, and barring creaky, old lady joints, I am quite capable of running 4.5 miles.

Now, some lessons learned:
- Eating my weight in Mexican food the night before is possibly not the best pre-race preparation.
- The next time I run in a trail race (which, for information's sake, is precisely 3 weeks from today) I will wear two knees braces, and maybe also two ankle braces. My body is a fan of braces, it seems.
- The next time I run in any race at all, I will be sure that my ipod is playing well before I hear, "Ready, set, go!" I didn't do this today, and my fingers were too frozen to get it to work. Any and all running is made better by Lionel Richie and songs from the Top Gun soundtrack, you know.

Now, some things I already knew but were confirmed again today:
- Any and all running is made better by wearing a running skirt. I feel sorry for boys that have to wear boring, old shorts.
- We have fun, enthusiastic, seriously awesome friends. Craig, Caleb & Jen were totally on board with this from the get-go, and I'm grateful for it. We didn't all run at the same pace, but I loved knowing we were all out there together, working toward the same thing.
- Encouraging, you-can-do-it words from our very supportive family friends are just the neatest, sweetest things. I need to remember this whenever I have the opportunity to help build someone else up.
- I am married to my biggest fan :)

My husband was born to run; I've mentioned this before. In high school he ran cross country, and one year this was printed on their t-shirts. Paying homage to him 20 years later = super fun :)
Was it cold?...
YES IT WAS.
Ready to rumble!

I am loved and here's some proof: While we were out huffing & puffing on the course, Jan Michael was hoofing it himself - he wanted to be able to meet us along the route in order to record our smiling faces & to scream our names. 3 miles in a parka & non-running shoes is just adding to the list, people.
Finished! And with chocolate medals to show for it! :)