One of "those" runs

This morning I woke up and went to a local 5K. There was a 15K offered and that would have been the smart thing to do because it would have knocked out more of miles for my long run today but I just didn't feel inclined to do it. Well all things happen for a reason and I had a great run! I went out at the front of the pack (it was a small crowd) and I was the 2nd woman : ) I decided since this is my last 5K of the year I am going to push out and try to be the 1st place woman! Well there was a lady in front of and I kept right on her heels. At 1.7 miles a young, spunky, cross country girl smoked us! But I kept on pushing and passed the other lady right at the finish. My time was 24:48 and I was the 2nd woman overall.

At the end of the race the "other" woman congratulated me and I realized she was a lady that I heard a lot about and runs quite a bit. She mentioned she wanted to get in at least 10 more so we decided to potty/eat and go back out and do the 15K course (9.3). It was a great run! I do all of my long runs by myself so it was nice to have someone to chat with and she is more of 9:00 pace so it was a nice little push. On top of that the run is full of rolling hills so it was a great workout!

But this is not what made the run great. What made the run great was some what a blessing this random running partner was. She was so insightful and interesting to talk to. She had lots of running advice and life advice. When she found out I was a teacher she shared a story from her past the reminded me why I get up every day and do what I do. My job has been very stressful lately and I have been caught up in the paperwork and "have to's". God definitely played a huge role in my not running the 15K and running my extra miles with this new running partner. I will probably never run with her again but today's run was a blessing for so many reasons that have nothing to do with pace or negative splits or tempo or hills! Thank you God for showing up today and re-inspiring me to keep up the hard work and go to work everyday because I DO make a difference in children's lives. You never know when God sends a blessing your way.