Long Run Sunday, Race Day Edition

It turned out to be a beautiful day today for the St. Patrick's Day 5k & 10k. At 10:00 this morning it was about 30°. I was skeptical with all the snow we got this week, but the roads were clear, the sun was out, and it warmed up nicely. I figured we'd be on the bike path, but the street around Lake Calhoun was actually blocked off, which was nice.

I ran with Alena, who kept my ass moving. I would have probably slowed down quite a bit on the second lap had I run it by myself. We kicked it a little at the end and I ended up with a finishing time of 58:03 (my official time is 58:07, but I started back a little ways in the pack; 58:03 is what I saw when I crossed the finish line). That's a 9:21 pace. Waaaay faster than I thought I could run it. I was expecting about a 10:00 pace if I was lucky, accounting for race adrenaline and all that.

They moved the starting line at the last minute, so there was quite a bit of confusion amongst race-goers as to where to be. They said something about the course certification, but didn't they know that far enough in advance to let everyone know? Nothing was very well marked. If I had driven, it would have been less of a big deal, but Fly Girl dropped me off. I hitched a ride part way and then walked some.

The red Running Room tent ended up being about a quarter of the way around the lake from where they said it would be. Which was okay in the beginning, since the weather was nice and I wasn't running too late. But at the end it meant that I was on the complete opposite side of the lake from where I live, so I was lucky enough to hitch another ride instead of having to walk the whole way or wait very long for FG to pick me up.

So it was good! I'm glad I did it. I'm glad Alena was there. And now I have my first official 10k finishing time.