So my blogging has been pretty bad lately. And admittedly rather aligned with my running. The Madison 1/2 marathon is next weekend. My original plan after the Illinois Marathon was to recover for 1 - 1.5 weeks then gradually get back into training so I could be in peak shape for the half. It didn't happen. My mileage has remained very low and I have done zero quality workouts - not even striders.

So, this weekend I decided to do the "Run for the Rock." It is a small town race where my sister lives, so I decided to give it a shot. I got there at 8:00 am and the kid's run was just about to start. My nephew was running it and all the kids were so darn cute! I am always amazed to watch them come in - one tiny little guy (4?) came blazing in around 9 minutes. Hilarious.

It was 50 degrees (perfect) but extremely windy. I looked at the course map prior to the race and saw that the first 2 miles would be tailwinds/cross winds and that the headwinds would only be in the last mile. Perfect. Seriously. This was not a goal race, this was get Mindi back into race mode - I could use a bit of a kick in the pants to get my mental toughness back up there.

We lined up and there were probably only around 75 people participating. The first two miles were very hilly and sure enough, the turn just before mile 2 was into the winds. It was never terrible, but it was funny that when the course finally flattened out it was into a headwind. I tried not to slow and to keep pushing myself, but I never had a huge kick at the end (nor did I fell like I was dying). Turned the last corner and saw my sister and nephew, who were screaming at me. It was really fun! I finished in 21:49 and was very happy. It was a tough course and this was the first sub-22 5K for me in over a year. Oh yes, and thanks to the size of the race, I was also 2nd female.

I hung around and met a lot of fun people. It took the RDs forever to get the awards going and they actually screwed up an age group and did not even try to correct it. That was frustrating. Plus they gave the top 3 overall age group awards as well. While I like my hardware, I would have preferred someone else got the AG award. With that said, I won a huge rock for 2nd place. Yes, really. It is hilarious. (My kids were a bit confused when I showed them though!)

The coolest part was that there were several couch to 5K women there and their coach called them all up and they were all in tears they were so happy. It was very, very awesome and moving. One of the ladies actually won her age group too (60-69) and was just amazed. It was inspiring.

Now I am preparing for my son's first communion and a house full of people for lunch. I am really hoping to then log 12-15 this afternoon. Fingers crossed.

Go JOE POSITIVE!! I am hoping the winds stay calm in Cleveland.