Sunday, October 4, 2009

TC 10 Mile Race Recap

Greetings! I hope everyone is having a great weekend.

The Twin Cities Marathon/10 mile was today! We finally had perfect weather - it pretty much rained non-stop the previous 3 days so I was relieved that it didn't rain today.

I started out the race weekend by going to the Expo on Saturday. There is definitely a tangible buzz at marathon expos. It's the prime place to contract the 'marathon bug'. I had already decided to do a marathon next fall, but being at the marathon expo made me even more excited to run in another marathon.

Of course the highlight of the expo was meeting my running mentor - Hal Higdon!! The guy is a legend in the running community. He's part of my daily life.


That lovely grid hangs on my fridge and tells me what to do every day. So meeting the master mind behind these training plans was awesome.

I tried not to be too star-struck, but I was pretty giddy when I met him. I bought his new book, which is a novel, which he graciously autographed for me! I was too shy to ask for a photo with him but am really regretting this as my friend Brooke said many people got their photo taken with him. Oh well, that's what I get for being so shy/star struck in his presence. Yes, I realize this makes me a dork.

Here's a photo of the page of the book that he autographed for me!


The rest of my Saturday was pretty low key. I made an awesome pasta dish which I'll be sharing with you later this week. Then I laid out my running clothes & other items I'd need in the morning, which is a race ritual for me.



I had to be up at 5 am so attempted to get to bed early. Total fail. I tossed. I turned. I said Hail Marys. I said Our Fathers. I got back up and read another chapter. Nothing worked. I've been a bit of an insomniac this week, so I shouldn't have been so surprised.

I must have fallen asleep around 1 am? So my 5 a.m. alarm came entirely too fast. I was excited for the race, though, so I jumped out of bed and got ready for my race.

After a breakfast of Corn Chex and some home-made GF banana bread (another post to come later this week), I was ready to head out the door!


Yah, I look a little groggy!

It was a cool 43 degrees when the race started, but the cool weather felt wonderful. The race couldn't have gone better. My goal was 1:40 - 1:45. My chip time was 1:36:10!! Here is how my splits broke down:

Mile 1: 9:08
Mile 2: 9:19
Mile 3: 9:43
Mile 4: 9:27
Mile 5: 9:55
Mile 6: 10:12
Mile 7: 9:57
Mile 8: 9:30
Mile 9: 9:40
Mile 10: 9:19

So there you have it. Totally blew my time goal out of the water! And I am really happy that my last mile was my 2nd fastest. I tend to kind of lose steam towards the end, so wasn't expecting a 9:19 split! I'll run my half on 10/31 and am now thinking I might be able to PR! We'll see!

Now I am going to spend the remainder of the day knocking out a few more things on that to-do list.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

18 comments:

  1. This is so awesome that you did this race! And those times are great! I'm also totally in awe that you are going to do things for the rest of the day instead of lay on the couch and sleep/watch movies.

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  2. Congratulations!! I am so glad that the weather cooperated and that things went well. That is an awesome time. Way to kick butt!

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  3. Lisa my dear, you are a machine! Well done! I would actually die! You have, hoiwever, insiped me to start running again!

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  4. YAYYY, way to go! Those splits are awesome!!

    That's so cool you got Hal Higdon's autograph!!!! Bummer you never got a photo with him, though! Oh well, next time. Good job on the race, you're going to blow that half out of the water!

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  5. You were SO speedy! Congrats!!! I slept for less than 5 hours the night before my sprint triathlon- its just too exciting/nerve wracking to sleep!
    PS. We have the same running shoes haha

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  6. Good job, Lisa!! Very very well done! Very excellent times!!

    I do the same thing with laying out the clothes prior to a race--funny! Is that a heart rate monitor with your GPS now? That's cool!--I'm envious!

    Good luck this week with your endeavors with your new career!!!! Will be thinking of you tomorrow morning :)

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  7. Congrats! Seeing other people get out an run is really inspiring me to do the same. Way to go!

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  8. Wow. You are my hero. I am going to run (or 30 day shred tomorrow depending on weather) for the first time in 3 weeks. The cold I had totally knocked me out and breathing and moving was not happening. Ugh.. I feel like a total sloth.. Here is to starting over!

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  9. Lisa, I am so in awe...I've never done a marathon (well, except a walk-a-thon or two) and cannot imagine all that goes into preparing for and executing it! That you beat your goal time is just icing on the cake.

    Good job and what an amazing way to start a new week and this new chapter in your life...Kickin' butt!

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  10. Love the pictures of your running and congrats on all your progress!

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  11. Congratulations! That is such a HUGE accomplishment. You are so my role model for post-grad school getting in shape program.

    That's just so cool!

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  12. Wow! Those are amazing mile times. So excited/happy/proud of you & for you =)

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  13. i'm so jealous that you got to meet hal!! that's awesome!! your training schedule looks like mine..with little notes written all over it! i love being able to cross off the days after they are done!

    awesome job on the race! you should be really proud of yourself!

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  14. Woohoo great job!!!!!! That is an awesome time for a half, I'm super proud of you (and in awe, ha!).

    I totally understand the tossing and turning. When there's something exciting coming up I just can't fall asleep! Argh!

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