Heart Breaker 10K

I am now a HUGE fan of cold weather running. 6+ minute PR? Yes please!

When my alarm went off at 6:40, I thought why the heck did I sign up for a race on a Sunday? my bed is so warm, and it is so cold out. Luckily this only lasted a second. As soon as I was fully conscious I had a granola bar and a glass of water, and turned on the tv. I got dressed and had my Power Bar around 7:10. (I never used to go for any energy bars or drinks, but Power Bar Performance Energy bars are great. They never fail me.) I went downstairs and hubby and I finished getting ready and loaded up the car.

We got to the parking garage around 8:15 and it was 34* out. Definitely colder than any other weather I've run in before. I saw people in a variety of clothing, from shorts to heavy sweat pants. My outfit was right in the middle. "Packet pick-up" was just getting your race bib and shirt. The shirts are long and unisex. I got a small but it still looks like it could be a dress.

About 8:45 I got ready, got my gloves on, garmin (which started beeping low battery as soon as I put it on), ipod, etc. and we left the warmth of the registration room. It wasn't a very big race, around 300 people were on the confirmation list the day before. I was about 100 people back from the start line. Hubby stayed with me till about 5 mins before the start. There was a Starbucks right next to the start/finish line so he was going to hang out there while I ran.

Overall the race was very uneventful. My earphones fell out about .4 miles in, so I just ran in silence the rest of the way. The course went into a more industrial part of the city so there wasn't a lot to look at. My first mile was sub-10 which I didn't think I could sustain so I slowed down the next 2 miles to around 10:15/mile. I was feeling pretty strong after the first half of the race so I just ran at a pace that was comfortable but required effort. I told hubby the earliest I would be done is 10:05 (1 hour and 5 mins in) so he would know when to look out for me. Around mile 5, I realized I would be a lot faster than that if I kept up this pace. I started getting antsy and wanting to slow down with a mile to go. I tried different things to keep my mind occupied, including counting to 200 and singing a song in my head (which was "Camptown Ladies" for some reason). Finally I could see people turning towards the finish line. I hoped that hubby had a feeling I would be faster, and was already there. I sprinted the last .1 in and saw 1:02:04 on my Garmin as I crossed the finish line. (chip time is 1:02:01 - even better!) Whoo-hoo! Hubby was right at the front of the finish and he took my picture as I came across.

I immediately asked for water since I didn't drink any on the course, then we walked back to the post-race area and I got some strawberry shortcake. Yum! I had never had it before, it was pretty good. Then we walked back to the car and drove back to town and had brunch. It was such a fun morning. I am so glad hubby has the day off so we can hang out all day!

Garmin splits:
Mile 1: 9:52
Mile 2: 10:21
Mile 3: 10:14
Mile 4: 9:55
Mile 5: 9:39
Mile 6: 9:47
Mile .2: 2:12 (.25 due to weaving/etc)

Pictures to come!

P.S. I asked hubby if he had a feeling I would be faster, since he was out there earlier than I said to be. He said "This is how much faith I have in you. I was out there at 9:50." :)