On Sunday, I woke up bright and early after our first night in the new house and buzzed out the door into the freezing cold. My first 10 mile race was here: Women Run the Cities 10 Mile!
I got down to Minnehaha Park with plenty of extra time. I got the best possible parking spot and ate a little Chobani for my breakfast. I hadn't had time (with moving the days before) to pick up my packet, so I jumped out of the car and ran to do that. It was only 32 degrees F outside...so it really was freezing! After I got my stuff, I ran back to my car to decide what to wear and prep for the race. Luckily, I had thrown on some gear, but grabbed a bunch of extra items, since I wasn't exactly sure what the weather would be like. I settled on capri pants (that I haven't worn in FOREVER), my pink tank that I normally wear for races and my pick zip-up. I was freezing to start, but was worried I would get too hot , but decided to go for it. I ran to pee and then headed to the starting line. I found the 10:30/min pacer and popped in around her and waited. Soon, the National Anthem was sung and the race started.
In no time at all, I was across the starting line, trying to settle into a nice pace. I will say this about pacers...I FREAKIN' LOVE THEM (most of the time)! I have had pretty good experience with pacers in the longer races I have run. I have seen them where they just run (at least close to) a steady pace for whatever their designated time is...fairly silent the entire time other than giving timing counts at the mile markers. I have also seen them where they totally pump up their group. This was the case of the 10:30 pacer for this race. I don't recall her name (I believe it was Becky...), but she was checking on people, encouraging us, making comments about the weather and running and even making jokes every now and then. Around mile 5, there is a giant climb of about a hundred feet. She really helped to push everyone up it, telling us that it was the hardest part of the race and we'd be done going up in two minutes and ready to go slightly downhill. She was really great. She helped a lot of ladies get through those miles and she really helped get me through the hardest part of that race. I was able to stick with the ground until mile 7, when my knee had to have a little walk break, but she really did get me to that point.
Anyway, I did alright up until that point, but then had a few walk breaks after that. They were short, but they were there. When I got to about a quarter mile from the finish, I told myself (internally) that I would walk to the next little bridge and then run the rest of the way. Well, I took two steps walking and some lady told me not to stop, that I could do it, that I was almost there...and with that I ran with her the rest of the way. Some random stranger pushed me to finish the race and I am super grateful for that random stranger. :)
Apparently, my body wasn't 100% after moving the last week (especially on Saturday). I did what I could, though, and while I'm not thrilled, I still finished ahead of the 11:00/mile pacer, which was my goal.
Official time: 1:47:15
After the race, I met up with my brother, who had served as a bike marshal for the race, and we grabbed lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings. It was nice to spend a bit of time with him one on one. After lunch, I buzzed home to find my sweetie pies crashed on the couch with the tv playing my favorite NFL team creaming the 49ers :) Life is good.
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| My One and Only Picture from Race Day |
XOXO
