NERC XC race

A few days late posting about this race ~ this whole 'going back to school' thing has made my life a little busier {gone are the days of drinking coffee & watching the Today Show & eating lunch while I watch another episode of Parenthood}  Tuesday I ran a race I've wanted to run for a few years...the last race of the three week XC series at Penitentiary Glen.  You can't pass up a chip timed $5 race! But it was mostly high school kids getting in their first time trial for the year.  I did feel a tad out of place as the two 40 year-olds in the crowd.  We found the Madison bus and the Madison kids & hung out with them, so it looked like we had friends.  It was a hot humid night...and the sun was shining ~ so it was nice that the race was through the woods.  It was run like an XC race {as it was} and the boys went first.   It was cool to watch the guys set off, cheering for Mike and all my former XC runners at the same time ~ found the water stop around 1.7 where Brenda was snapping pictures & cheered form Mike as he ran by...saying it was brutal.  

From there I got myself to the start line & ran a few warm-ups with the high school kids...but not near as many as they did!  Weird to high five the girls and NOT step out of line.  Mike caught me just before the start for my good luck kiss ~ and we were off.  And the high school kids left me in the dust!  I managed to pass a few of them, but that last quarter mile...oh boy, up hill.  Seriously.  Hit the curve praying to see the finish line around the bent...and it's not there... There was a marker at mile 3, and I swear that last .1 was the longest tenth I've ever run.  Finished 24:10.  Enough for a second place old lady finish...

Decided not to wear my watch.  I have no idea if that had any effect on my time, either good or bad.  It was a TOUGH course in hard conditions.  And I kind of liked not wearing my watch ~ a little freeing.  However, as we passed the mile mark I was with about five people.  The one guy running the girls race {?} asked, "anyone got a watch?"  no one did.  So I have no idea how fast I did that first one.