We Made It!

This would be the "before" picture of Galina and I. There's no "after" picture.

I was so lucky to have so much support from all of you for this race – your calls, comments, texts and tweets were SO wonderfully encouraging.

I ended up finishing it in 2:13:58.  They didn’t have pre-organized pace groups for the race, but they did have pace leaders.  I pretty much glued myself to the 10:17/mile pacer (goal time = 2:15) to keep me on-track.  My strategy was to stick to the pace until the end and then increase my speed depending on what energy I had left.  Really, what ended up happening at the end of the race is that I upped my pace and broke away from the group so that I could make sure that I made it in below 2:15.  That last mile was hard, but the experience was just incredible.  I can’t believe that four months ago, I was just finishing my first 5k and agreed to this on a whim!

I also got a new goal-time out of the deal.  Since I’m running the Twin Cities 10 Mile in October, I figured I’d peek at the clock when I got to the 10 mile marker.  My time there was 1:43:58 so, that’s my time to beat!

Beyond the 10 Mile, I have no other colorful racing plans for the next year.  To that end, I’ve re-arranged my Workouts page because I want it to reflect more of what I do on a day-to-day basis rather than when I’m preparing for a race.  If you want to check it out, click here.

Did I mention that running for cupcakes was totally the right idea?  Sweet Retreat did not fail me.  And I would highly recommend this motivational technique to anyone.

They were super-pumped to put this "accomplishment" sticker on the box. It did not go unappreciated.

And post-race, we hit Famous Daves’ Blues Brunch in Uptown.  Erica and Justin came along with Mads and Dik.  I can honestly say, I’ve never been so hungry in my entire life.  BBQ chicken wings, cheesy hash browns and french toast with pecan syrup, whipped cream and strawberries were a salve to my soul.  I haven’t been to a proper brunch buffet in AGES and this was exactly the way to do it up

EDIT: The formal results went-up today.  My chip time was 2:13:03.  I finished 501/1147 for the women and for my division (20-24) I was 67/164.