Search and rescue...

Joe (our coach) and K came to the rescue tonight.

We were set to run 5-miles on a course on the Greenbelt that Joe had previously marked with flags tonight. I ran much of the run on my own ahead of the main pack; K and another guy were the only ones ahead of me. There was another girl who I was aware of that was slightly behind me and she ended up passing me while I stopped to tie my shoes at some point. Thank goodness for that. I didn't start getting concerned until mile 4 or so and then we finally admitted that we were truly lost when we hit mile 5 and weren't anywhere close to the creek to finish up. Thankfully, I had my phone in my Camelbak and called K. I figured at some point he'd get concerned when I wasn't back yet and perhaps think to check his phone in the car. He finally did a little while after I left a message and called me back. He and Joe were headed out to find us, but I had no idea how to convey where we were! Um, we're near some trees and rocks? Meanwhile, we had started to retrace our path in hopes that something would look familiar or, worse comes to worse, we'd make our way back the way that we came. I was out of water and it was going to be dark soon. I was much calmer about the situation than I would have been if I'd been out there alone. Thankfully, they found us somewhat near where we apparently got off course. K had refilled his water bottle so I was able to rehydrate as we headed back. The situation could have easily turned out differently. And, I'm thankful that it had a happy ending (with extra mileage tacked on again for good measure).