My mantra today was, "I've done the work." I have been struggling with feeling imposter syndrome and wondering what the heck I was doing lining up for this race. It's been so long since I've tried to race anything longer than a few miles. Whenever the doubts started to sneak into my mind, though, I would push them out with my mantra. The first half of the race went well, and I was able to run most of it, only stopping for a pit stop and water breaks.

Unfortunately, the second half was more difficult as the sun really started to beat down and it got hotter than anything we saw in training. I made sure to stop at every single aid station for water and Gatorade, even if I wasn't thirsty. My tired body began arguing with me, but I continued moving forward, until finally reaching the finish line in Kingfield. I met some great people and had so much fun enjoying a gorgeous course with them! 

After I finished, I hung out at the finish line and waited for Ed. Despite some challenges, he finished in first place for his age group! We got to hang out with a few of our good friends, and start resting and refueling. Shout out to Rob who also placed in his age group!

Once we were back at the mountain, it was morbidly entertaining to watch everyone hobbling around. At one point we were approaching a set of stairs at the same time as a group of young men. They politely indicated that I should go ahead of them, which I declined, telling them that my knees were seriously slowing me down. They laughed and exclaimed that they weren't feeling much better; lamenting all their many aches and pains as they gingerly made their way down the stairs.

Other than my knees, I don't hurt. The rest of me is just tired. I need to go back to the drawing board and work more diligently on building up the strength in my posterior chain to protect them. I work a desk job and it shows! 

In the meantime - F YEAH - I did it! Thank you all so much for cheering us on. We really appreciate it!!