It's Just Abbey

Today was a glorious day for a race! And by glorious I mean snowing, 28 degrees and gray all over. I signed up for the Delphos “Race Your Ice Off 5K.” I chose this one because it was a 1st annual race and those are always fun to take part in mostly because they always underestimate the turn out but also because they have great swag! Also, it was at 10am. Sleeping in is always a plus in my book.

I got to the race in layers and layers of clothing. I wasn’t sure I would ever be warm. I went out and did a quick warm up around the location in efforts to get my core temperature up. It only kind of worked.

The race started and there was a little speech from the race director. She promised chili and hot chocolate to the finishers. We were all motivated to run much faster. Happy thoughts were only minutes away!

I went into this race on minimal training. I haven’t been able to run nearly as much lately because after work it is dark and I am beginning to hate treadmills more and more with every passing day. Although, I have been lifting and trying to eat better. I use the word trying VERY loosely. My personal best is a flat 28 minute 5K. I wanted to at least attempt to beat it. The last time I tried to chase down my PR I missed it by 22 seconds. All or nothing baby!

We started and we took off like bullets. I looked at my Garmin about half way into the fist mile and saw I was at a 7 minute mile pace. Whoa girl, pull it back a little. I got to excited and my heart was complaining. Perhaps Burger King was a bad breakfast choice. Too late now!

Through mile 2 there was a small boy running by me. He was amusing and kept my mind off the cold because he was using me as his mark. He would sprint forward about 10 feet passed me then walk. After I passed him he would wait about 10 seconds the charge ahead again. He did this for most of the second mile. At mile three I decided to pick up the pace a little more and I lost him.

Towards the end my lack of training was kicking in and I was in that, “Everything sucks and you are going to die trying” mindset. I was cold, I was tired and was really mad I pulled myself out of my nice warm bed for this. Then I remembered chili. Hot chocolate. A nice warm car. I looked at my watch and realized I could add a new PR to that list of objectives. This finish line was just around the corner and my Garmin was barely clicking through 26 minutes. A few people whooshed by me thinking the same thing. I grunted out loud and threw all the energy I had left into my legs. I focused on my breathing and let my legs go rogue. They hauled it around the people who had passed me and I was closing in on a guy in a red cap. As I got closer he started sprinting to the finish and I knew I wouldn’t catch him.

The man by the clock was yelling at him to hurry and cross. Then he yelled, “Don’t let that girl beat you!” As I noticed the clock I just grinned and shouted back, “I heard that!” and zoomed through the finish.

27:18.

There you have it folk, I’m awesome. My body was furious but I was elated. New record!

The weirdest thing about this race was at the end they handed everyone index cards to fill out. Name, age, address, and time. That’s right, I had to tell them what time I finished then go throw it into the right age group bucket. It was like a test of your honor. Did you finish in your actual time or did you race a miraculous sub-20? My honor and silent fear of being jailed over minuscule things made me fill it out correctly. I tried my best to write but I wasn’t functioning correctly yet. My hands were not communicating with my brain and I am surprised my name was legible. I asked Hoppie to fill out the rest because it looked like I was writing with my left foot.

I ended up taking 3rd in my age group but they didn’t award anything for that. I just got free food and a new personal best. Who can really ask for more?

I'm the one in the baby blue shivering to death!