Finally.
We made it.
After a year of running in the Salem Wicked Series we made it to the last race!
The debate was do we run it with the stroller or try and see if some kind soul would be willing to tend for us on Thanksgiving morning?
Run with the stroller and there's no pressure.
Run with the stroller also means though, that I can't uphold this amazing running/winning streak I had established for myself.
But run without strollers means pressure. It means trying to measure up when I felt run down.
We opted for the kind soul. And I didn't sleep at all the night before because of the anxiety it created! :)
A chilly morning found us in Salem once again. And off we went.
We both ran as well as we could, and pushed ourselves about as hard as we could. The cool weather worked to our advantage thankfully. But then again it also worked to everyone else's advantage! I pushed along in the 5 mile race passing a few girls but not knowing exactly where I was overall. Towards the end I had my sights on one more girl that I just knew I would never catch. But I slowly creeped up on her and as I turned the corner and realized I had like 100 yards to the finish line I kicked it into a gear I didn't know I had in me! Seriously I was FLYING!!! And in the last like 10 yards flew right past her! Man I wish I had that finish on film! I was hauling!
I don't run races to beat people. Really. I don't. But I do have to admit, it felt great to push past her in those last yards and finish off in an explosive way!
Justin did really great too and came in very close behind me! Way to finish it off respectably!
And as it turns out I came in 4th over-all and 1st in my age division!
We got a cool Adidas running jacket with the race series logo on it for completing the entire series. The bummer/major GRIPE? These things never fit. They are always too big! They nearly NEVER offer women's sizes or men's XS sizes.
So you could say that if I ran this blasted series just for the jacket it was a waste. Good thing it wasn't my main motivation for completing the series. I'm still bummed and bugged though. I opted for a trade-in and got the running hat (which was supposed to go to the people who completed the entire series munus one race).
Lame lame lame.
To all those race directors out there....(you know 'cause there's SO many race directors reading this blog - not) do all us women runners a favor......please? Offer women's sizes or XS men sizes at the very least! Women generally comprise more than 1/2 of the running field. Why not cater to them just a little bit!?
Word.
