My 23 Minute Miracle

 See that medal?  Yep!  I FINALLY did it.  I reached a goal that I have been striving for for quite a long time.  I got 1st in something! My boys always ask me when I come home from a race, "Did you win?"  They don't realize that most people that win the races I run are professional athletes.  They are racers from all over the world that pull off spectacular times to win these Marathons.  "Did you win?" is most often answered with "No, but I finished and I hit a goal time for me, and I didn't quit, and I kept going, so that's good enough for me."  They walk off saying, "So, you didn't win."  Well, that went over their heads!  

This last Saturday I had a chance to run in a much smaller race, hence much better odds that I could actually place.  It was bitter cold and super windy but it was only a 5K and honestly that helped me out a lot because I don't think I would have want to keep up that pace much longer than 3.1 miles.  I finished the race in 23 minutes and some change...

I was the 1st woman in my age group to cross the finish line and the 2nd woman OVERALL to cross the finish line.  I was proud of that one.  1st woman to cross was a 27 year old cross country running teacher at Jenks HS.  She runs for a living.  Every day of her life.  I just run when I can.  Not a cross country coach here:)  

My good running buddy Kristi ran this race with me too and she also earned a medal.  You only got a medal if you were top 3 in any of the categories.  She won 1st place for her age group too.  I was so proud of her!  She's worked really hard, is a mom of 2, and also has a full time job.  She gets out there and does the training and I couldn't be more proud.  Shout out to Melinda (our other running buddy) who heads up this race every year and does such a great job for a wonderful organization! 

Get out there today and set a goal for yourself.  It feels pretty darn good when you reach it.  And YOU WILL!