If you follow me on Facebook, you will already know that I completely surpassed my goal time! I didn't really feel like I was running that quickly but it was soooo cold! I guess I just ran as fast as I could to A)keep warm, and B)finish so I could warm back up in the field house!
Of all the races I have completed, I got the most sleep the night before this time. My Hubs is awesome, he told me to get to bed at 9pm and he took care of Little Miss. I ended up waking up every two hours and drinking water, so I would check in on them. They both ended up sleeping on the couch watching "Peter Pan". So not only did I have the bed to myself, I didn't have to deal with the Snore Monster. I ended up getting about 9 hours of sleep!
When I woke up, I ate my usual breakfast and turned on the news. I wanted to check out the weather. All week the prediction was no rain, highs in the low 40s. Okay, at least it wasn't around freezing. Lies, all lies! The weatherman was saying while the temps were going to be in the 40s, it was going to "feel like" the 30s. Why, IN THE WORLD, do the weather peeps do that crap? I want to know what its going to "feel like" outside, opposed to what the actual temps are. Grrr. I dressed as warmly as possible then headed out.
I had to get to the field house early before they closed the roads. So I just hung out in my car as long as possible, trying to absorb as much heat as possible. I had to meet up with my sailor gal friends so I could get my super cool valentine's day themed shirt. We definitely had the best T's in the race. Lots of people were huddled up in the field house then all at once (with like 5 minutes left til start time) everyone filed out and proceeded to their assigned corrals.
*Oh, so funny story about the corrals.*
I once had a friend tell me this story about how she accidentally entered in the wrong race time when registered for a race and ended up in the first corral with all the super serious racers. On race day, she put herself in a more appropriate corral and tried to keep her number covered up so others wouldn't notice her mistake. All the other races I have run, there have been quite a few corrals. The day before the race when I picked up my number this time, I didn't notice until I got home that I was in corral #2. I freaked out, I was like,
OMG I PUT IN THE WRONG RACE TIME WHEN I REGISTERED....and I am going to be totally mortified on race day!
I have never been in that low of a corral number. I was making plans to go back up to the field house and fix the situation so I could get into the right corral before race day. I ended up texting one of the sailor gals and asked what corral she was in, they were in #3. Oh. Then I checked the race's Facebook page. They said there were only 4 corrals total. Oh. Phew. Hubs thought it was pretty funny how I freaked out.
Okay back to the original story.
So we lined up in our corrals. Lots of people were wearing tutus. Lots of hearts. Quite a few couples were racing together. Total Valentine's Day themed race. All of us were shivering though! I just wanted to dang race to start so I could run and warm up.
I was right, once I started running I warmed up. Though my fingers did stay numb for quite a while even though I had gloves on. The wind sucked. Especially when the trees disappeared and there was nothing to block the wind. I encountered strong winds when I ran the Wicked 10K (compliments of Hurricane Sandy), but this was different because it was so frickin cold. The race path was pretty nice, mostly paved with a few spots in the grass. It had rained significantly the day before so I was happy we were on hard surfaces for most of the run. Watching people try to avoid the mud puddles while avoiding other runners was pretty funny. You had some people that weren't watching where they were going somehow and were totally shocked when they plowed through the water or mud. Other people gracefully lept over the road hazards. Then just a few seemed clueless as to how to go about getting around the mud....they totally stopped running when they reached the edge of the puddle and stared at it, like they were waiting for it to dry or move out of the way or something, *shrug*.
I do have a few snarky remarks though. While I was in the field house before the race, a lady next to me was stretching. I now know she wears grey leopard VS panties under her black pants. And so do the other 10 or so people that were standing there too. One girl had a wardrobe malfunction during the race. I don't know if the waistband broke on her baggy crop capris or if she just didn't have them tied tight enough, but her butt definitely came out of her pants around mile 5. But no worries, she has on her white cotton granny panties. For once, I am glad someone wore panties under their running pants! No worries though, without missing a step she yanked her britches back up and secured them without slowing down. Either she's had practice doing that maneuver, or she is totally pro.
And to the one woman that ran in a teddy and yoga pants...I am actually speechless.
I only slowed down once to get a few sips of Gatorade, I was so proud that I didn't have to stop and use a port-o-potty! I have this nervous fear that I will pee on myself while running so anytime I feel like there is anything in my bladder, I get anxious. My left IT band started bothering me towards the end, but I knew that would happen. They had a "Candy Corner" near the end of the race route, even though I love chocolate I didn't want to eat it just yet so I took off my gloves and shoved the M&Ms into them. I figured Little Miss would appreciate them. I also snagged some beads one of the radio stations handed out just so I could give them to her too. The race ended inside of the field house which was nice, but I was kind of blinded for a moment. It was bright & sunny outside, so when I ran on the ramp into the field house my eyes freaked out from the sudden change of light. Other than that, they announced your name as you crossed the finish line and that was a very nice touch. Maybe they have done this at other races and I haven't noticed? But its pretty cool hearing your name as you cross that line.
I collected my free goodies: medal, water, gatorade, banana, and beanie. I promptly drank my water and searched for my friends. We enjoyed our 2 free Yvengling beer and chili from Baker's Crust. But once we sat down, it was not so easy to get back up. Since I parked closest, I shuttled everyone to their cars and headed home. All I wanted to do was go home, shower, then sleep!
I was totally stunned by my running time. My goal was to run a 9:30/mile. When I run on the treadmill, I go at a 9:40/mile and the last race I ran I did a 9:20/mile so I figured my goal should be somewhere in between because the weather was going to be much colder than what I was accustomed to. My stats from this race are:
Chip Time: 1:17:01 Gun Time: 1:19:08 Pace: 8:52/M
I am so happy with how I ran. I guess I am stronger than I thought! I would definitely run this race again, it was a great event and I liked the race path.
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| I "mustache" you a question, will you be my valentine? |
Now I guess the next thing I can prepare for is...
SWIMSUIT SEASON!
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