Cross Is Boss

Fam & Friends at the Buckeye Local Schools 1 mile & 5K:
baby blue shirt - Cameron * speedy gal in white shirt - Katlyn * dork in hat - yours truly * Italian Pride - Mary Ann * trendy glasses - Roxy * best aunt in hat - Aunt Pat * little dude in green shirt - Quinn



Two things that I strongly believe in are the importance of family and running. So if there is an instance when both of those can be magically put into one force, you better believe that I am all about it! About a month ago my cousin's little son Cameron asked me to run in the first annual charity race for his school (Buckeye Schools in Medina) and of course I gave him a "yes" on the spot. I even got two of my friends to participate by walking in the event last night.

Although it was a little on the warm and humid side yesterday evening, the race was a blast! Another shocklng and pleasant surprise was that it was a true cross country race - through the woods, corn fields and all, using the junior high and high school course. There are not too many of those races around here (with the exception of Mastic Woods in Rocky River in August). Even though I was a little aprehensive going into the race considering that I have not done much speed work in recent months, I was quite pleased with my performance. I ended up chugging to a 22.59. Not too bad considering the weather, grass/slight inclines, lack of track workouts and any other addittional excuse that I forgot to throw in here. Also, I at last feel like I am getting some confidence back in the running area. It seems like over the past few months I have been a little softish regarding my mental running prowless. Not being able to run with my partner in crime, Jen and dealing with some other personal junk has probably contributed here and there. However, last night I really felt it comming together once again. I felt psyched up, ready to compete and a little more mentally stuborn then the recent norm. This is a good thing and I feel that I can hopefully stick with this approach in more workouts/races to come. : )