I had a great race that resulted in another PR!! I shaved another 12 minutes of my half time (with a bathroom break)!!
The race itself was organized really well. My race, as well as the 10K, started at 9 AM. Followed by the 5K at 9:20 AM. Hans and I showed up about 2 mins before the gun start so I had to climb over a table and join the heard. Haha. One thing I should mention is that one of the reasons that I love this race is because we can walk to it. Okay back to the race... The first part of the race is great and you run through some residential area. I hate having to stop to use the port-a-john but shortly after the 5K I said eff-it and just went. I surprised myself by not only hitting the 5K at 28 mins but also still hitting mile 4 before 40 mins. At mile 5 you lose the 10Kers and continue to run along the river for an out and back. It was at about mile 6-7 that I thought I was maybe going to have to bow out because my knees started to hurt, but I pushed through. There were times I thought that I was barely moving, but apparently I was moving along because somewhere around 10 miles I saw that I was 1 hour 35 mins into the race and knew there about 3 miles left. As the image above shows I finished the race at 2:02:35.
I know a PR is different for everyone. Obviously there were people who ran faster than me, but it sure does feel good to know that I'm getting better. When I turned the final corner and saw the clock at the finish line I got a bit giddy. I did my thing where I race people at the finish line and had a good laugh with a woman at the finish line when we pushed each other to finish strong. That's one of the things I love about running.
Now to air my grievances... Overall I had an enjoyable experience at this race, but the after party was a bit weak. I ran my race in two hours and I know there were plenty of people behind me, so I was surprised to see some of the sponsors packing up already. The boy told me that there were ALOT of people who did the 5K but it's still disappointing to see. The Redbull people had already packed up, Dick's Sporting Goods was down to just giving people coupons for spinning the wheel, and apparently the Preferred One people had disappeared but boyfrand was able to get some frisbees after his race. They were giving out free t-shirts from past races so I did enjoy that. I feel like I should disclaim that I'm not all about free stuff, but it is a little disappointing to see sponsors wrap up before the race is even over and all the finishers have crossed the line.
The post race food was also so-so, it had your typical bread, chocolate milk, bananas, nut roll, and yogurt. By the time I got to the line, it was sort of slim pickings. The yogurt was put into little cups instead of getting a single serve container. I guess when the 5Kers finished there were like 3 full lines for people to go through, and when I showed up there were 2, but they definitely could have been condensed into one. I should probably stop talking about the quality of food, because it really wasn't bad.
What has REALLY been getting to me lately is when moms/dads run a race and then go through the food line with their kids. NO, your kid did not pay $60 to run a race and earn the post-race food. I know it seems silly to get that protective over a banana, but I've been seeing it more and more lately. I ran just as far as you did and I want my bag of chips and salted nut roll as much as you do, so yes, I'm going to be upset when I don't get mine because your kid did.
A small piece of my cubicle wall "Wall of Greatness"
Enough of the ranting. It's time to be happy about the PR and look forward to doing it again this weekend at the Lake Minnetonka Half. (Although I'm a little nervous about my knees beings jerks again.) Have a good Thursday!!!
What do you do with your bibs and medals?
