faster than the wind

I did very well in two of my last races of the season, winning the female title in the Harvest Run cross country 5K on such a cold morning that the ballpoint pens used for filling in registration forms froze and I had to thaw the ink by repeatedly holding them up to the propane heaters behind the tables. But when 10am arrived, I stripped down to a thin shirt and shorts, pulled on some spikes over my shoes, and ran through the puddles and over the slick grass. Then the following weekend the weather was much more agreeable for University of Maine's homecoming and I came in 2nd in the Black Bear 5K with a new PR of 21:05. This might be an all-time best, including high school, but since finding out would involve searching through a huge Rubbermaid bin of memorabilia, I won't worry about it anytime soon. I've secured first place in my age bracket and moved into 2nd place overall in the Sub5 series standings. Somehow, despite all the logistical chaos of my life with 3 kids in school, homeschooling the little boys, and having to guard all our possessions from a destructive preschooler (her latest feats involved ripping off several keys from Will's old laptop and sprinkling a 1/2 pound of shredded Cheddar all over her bedroom floor in the middle of the night), I have still been able to train and improve my running times.