the mama trail

Well, my second 10k-prep-for-Imogene-race is in the books and this time I actually came up with the big “W”. No, that doesn’t stand for “walk” or “wuss out” or “what in the world am I doing out here?”, but for “Win!”

This is the same course that I ran last year when I placed 2nd behind Sara. This year, Sara was not at the race, and neither was Erin (the 2nd place finisher from the race 2 weeks ago), but Michelle was. Last year Michelle was pushing me to run faster the whole race, and run I did! This year, without having someone in front of me, nor someone on my heels, I actually ran 40 seconds slower than I did last year. Bummer. Could also have been because it was about 190 degrees out and I was feeling thirsty from the gun. I felt awesome during the first half, then started having those evil why-don’t-I-just-do-the-5k thoughts. I kept it together pretty well though, and finished feeling proud.

Regardless, the NACA Prayer Run is truly a special event. Not only does it have a beautiful philosophy (please do read the history in the link above) but they always award the most beautiful prizes to the top finishers. Last year I got a hand-made decorative basket, this year as the overall female winner I was given an enviably unique sand painting. This year I think there were ~500. Although the races in Flagstaff always have a lot of Native American racers, this race in particular draws in large numbers of Native Americans.

I was also so happy to see so many Stroller Strides mamas out there. I think we had at least 5 others besides me, and all did outstanding. So impressive to see these ladies taking their fitness to the next level, challenging themselves, and rising to the challenge. Most even ran it together in a show of great camaraderie. Beth was out there supporting everyone, including her husband Tom, which is of great note because that night she birthed her second baby! Seeing her that day I had no idea that in less than 15 hours she would be done laboring and have a newborn in her arms. Wow. My 45 min of racing was nothing compared to what she had planned for later in the day!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 8th, 2010 at 8:32 pm and is filed under blah blah blog, race reports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.