I started in about the middle of the pack and there were a bunch of slower runners ahead of me so I had to weave my way through them to get up to speed. The ice and snow made the course a lot more challenging because I had to really pay attention to find a relatively clear path. I slipped a little a couple of times and had to slow way down at the turnarounds because they were so icy.

Pace for first mile was slow because of all the slower runners. Then I looked at my Garmin wrong and kept thinking the time (the race started at 10:30) was my pace. I couldn't figure out why it kept increasing even though I was running faster. Then I realized that I was actually at about 9:30, which is much faster than my usual! After that, I settled in and just pushed the pace as much as I could manage all the way through. I was able to maintain 3/2 breathing for most of it; dropped to 2/2 at one point but not for very long. I went into this planning to give an all-out effort to set a baseline time so I didn't have any kind of targets except just go as fast as I could. I periodically checked my Garmin out of curiosity but it didn't really change or control how I was going. I got kind of crampy/stitchy a few times, both my Achilles were fairly tight until about mi. 4, and my hammy twinged a every now and then. None of that really slowed me down except maybe the crampiness.

At the halfway mark, I was feeling pretty good but then realized I had to do the whole course all over again. Ack!! Oh well. Just keep running.

At about mi. 5, I picked up the pace and went as close to all-out as I could. I could tell my form was starting to slip and didn't care. I could see that I might be able to finish at or under an hour so I used that as my carrot to keep going. Push, push, push, where the hell is the finish line, push, push, there it is, go go go...OMG I finished right at 1 hour!!!!! SuWEEET!! Alex were there to catch me and he helped me wobble my way over to the Gatorade coolers. My asthma kicked up a little; I got a little wheezy and coughed some but it cleared up pretty quickly.

I'm glad I wore all those layers. I was quite comfy and even took off my mittens for ~half the race. Because of the winding nature of the course, the 10 mph wind wasn't really a factor. It snowed a little--just some light flurries. Apparently about 25% of the registered racers didn't show up. Wimps. It really wasn't that bad until I was standing around all sweaty at the end.


Start closer to the front.

Gulped down 2 glasses of Gatorade, walked around a little to catch my breath, then headed over to pick up my pie. NO WHIPPED CREAM??!! WHAT KIND OF OUTFIT IS THIS?? Oh well, they gave me 2 pieces. Guess I'll just take it home and put my own whipped cream on it. I started to get cold so we headed to the car. It was parked about 1/2 mi. away and during the walk I started really feeling all the aches and pains.


I felt like I put in a really good effort. The ice on the course was definitely a limiting factor. There were times when I had to slow down and run on the ice because I couldn't avoid it due to other runners. Also, the course was extra narrow due to the conditions so I got stuck behind slower people a number of times.


This race was well-organized and executed. Packet pick-up the day before was a breeze although the goody bags were really skimpy. They had volunteers at some of the turns and were making lots of announcements about being careful on the ice. There were 2 drink stations (well, 1 actually but we went past it twice) and a bank of portapotties on the course. There wasn't much in the way of post-race stuff. There had been a 5k that started at 9 so by the time we got done at 11:30, the booths had pretty much packed up and left. Can't say I blamed them!!

A number of people were in costume. There was a flock of turkeys being chased by a pilgrim and an indian, a couple more turkeys, and quite a few hats shaped like pie slices with whipped cream dollops. Participants ranged from a 10 y.o. girl (her time was 1:20!!) to a 79 y.o. woman. I had a lot of fun, a great time and am really proud of how well I did. First 10k is in the books!!