State # 45
Lifetime 1/2: 55
13 in 13 Progress: 13/13- woo did it and still have more to go!
Official time: 2:00:44
Kim and Jess brought this race to my attention a long time ago. I resisted the notion of running this due to the price was a little steep (triple digit race entry), its an all woman's race, and flights over labor day typically aren't cheap. I coughed up the entry fee, decided this would just have to be my 3rd weekend in a row of female empowerment, and actually ended up flying into Minneapolis the week before for Fargo and decided to make a week of it up north with friends and family!
Friday my uncle dropped me off at the airport so I could meet up with the ladies flying in and then Jess was going to pick us up to go straight to the expo, aka land of the pink.
The extra 'vavoom' factor the expo had was the opportunity to take photos with shirtless men, so we took full advantage...
When this photo was posted on FB my brother was convinced above hunk was photo shopped or a cardboard cut out
Race Day:
Kim and I stayed at the Crowne Plaza which was about a 1 mile walk to the shuttle buses so we could get to the start. Temps were in the high 60s / low 70s at start which made the walk bearable, but nervous for would would be in store for later.
Seeing Charlie Brown before the race is good luck right?
After we got dropped off near the start, we cycled through the potties and did our pre- race photos before taking off
A bunch of the Peoria gals, Kim, Me, Glitter Girl on the Run, and Patty
(Jess and I rebeling it up by wearing black)
#45 for me, #26 for Kim.
I'm pretty sure there were at least 5 or 6 more photos, but sadly, none were on my camera and I can't remember who took them.
Not a fan of large crowds, so I left the group of ladies as they were all anticipating around 10 min pace and lined up with the 8 min pace. (I'm well aware I'm not capable of maintaining this pace for the whole race, but I just wanted to get near front so I wouldn't be bobbing and weaving for the first mile)
I took the first mile relatively easy, conscious of not pushing it as to keep my calf in check and clocked in right at 8 min- woo! I wish I could say this would be a preview of whats to come the rest of the race, but sadly that would be just too good to be true. Miles 2-7 my left arch was KILLING me.
We ran the first 3 miles as an out and back, and shortly on the back I tried to tighten my shoe by stopping and lacing it up using the last hole near ankle. That lasted me about 2 min before my entire foot went numb so I had to unlace and re-lace to the farther hole from ankle. During that process Jess went by on the out so I missed her, but luckily I did see Kim when I got back up. She tried to give me a high five (I think) but I was just not feeling the extra effort it took to cross the people that separated her so I gave her a meek wave... sorry Kim!
Until that magic mile marker #7 when all the pain disappeared (story of my life), it was just a series of run /walk/ sweat profusely combo. The race announced it had added extra water stations, however they weren't till later in the race so in the beginning there was a station around mile 2.5, 4, and 6. I know this seems like they were perfectly spaced, however there was minimal shade and it was hot (projected high of 98). What I DID like is they had blue powerade. I love blue food and drinks! (is that weird?)
It would't be Lisa fashion if I didn't forget something- today it was the fact that I left my gels in the hotel room. There would be gels handed out at mile 8.5, but I normally take one around 6 or so, earlier when its hotter. The blue powerade really helped and I even randomly had a mile surge that was a sub 8 from mile 7.5 to 8.5 (when my arch pain went away). Unfortunately the mini walk I did at the aid station while fueling up with water and gu interrupted my little burst of energy and I went back to not caring again- gah I hate having no motivation.
Around mile 11.5 I saw my uncle riding his bike on the trail next to the road we were running. I knew he was contemplating on spectating, but that was the extent of the details I received. I hopped off the road and walked with him for 2 min just talking about the large size of race (10,000 included 10k and 5k), the heat, and my stupid nagging pain that I can't figure out. As I saw the water station in the distance I told him I was going to grab some fuel and then attempt to finish strong and I'd see him at the finish line.
If "finishing strong" can be interpreted as walking 4x before the final kick, then yes, I had a very strong finish. Last mile was actually quite pretty and pancake flat
Had I been good at math and what avg pace converts to, I would not have walked as much in the last mile. When I crossed the finish line at 2:00:44 I kind of laughed because I thought I was way over 2 hours and for kicks I would have taken one less break to say I broke 2 hours. Since I didn't care about my time or performance for today, that "oh shucks" moment only lasted a few seconds and then I happily took my necklace from a gorgeous shirtless man...
W is for Woman!
Apparently there were wet towels in large buckets at the finish line, but I missed those. (i also missed the wet sponges they were supposedly going to have on the course, but everyone I talked to didn't see any) One aspect I LOVED was before you left the finishers area you were handed a bag full of your post race snacks. Nice to not have to walk through lines to wait for food and do a balancing act.
Caught up with my uncle and chatted while waiting for the ladies to finish
I think we all had the same thoughts- took it easy, it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't fantastic either
We all walked to the finisher's area to get our free champagne before heading back to our hotels
Trying to do a cute back shot but instead I had to do an awkward angle shot
Since the course claimed we were running along the Mississippi river (I saw it once around mile 11), thought it would be appropriate to at least get one shot with the actual river in view.
... And then I had the brilliant idea we should "twerk" in honor of all the Miley Cyrus hoopla that was blowing up my facebook newsfeed. Apparently white gals who run aren't so good at twerking... who knew?
Swag was great for this race- jacket, champagne glass, topless men calendar, (yes that is the same guy from up above) and necklace.
In short the race wasn't bad. There was lots of pink, pretty organized minus the extra waterstops they 'added', and was a really fun gals weekend. I know how GORGEOUS MN can be, so I was a little disappointed that we didn't have a water view, but all in all can't complain.
