Race Report - 2012 Women Run the Cities

On Saturday, September 23 I ran the 2012 Women Run the Cities 10 Mile race. I ran this race in 2010 and at that time it was the first 10 Mile race I had ever run. It's fair to say that this race started my love affair with the 10 Mile distance and for that reason, this particular race holds a special place in my heart.

The race started at 8:00 am which was nice in that I didn't have to get up at a cra-cra early time.   Chris joined me for this race so I had a travel buddy and someone to keep me company until the race started. He also came in handy as a personal heater to keep me warm until it was time to head to the start. By 8:00 am when the race started it was still quite chilly but the sky was clear, the sun was shining and the air was calm - Fall running in Minnesota at its finest. The race course basically follows the Mississippi River along West and East River Parkway. It's a relatively flat course overall but has some pretty good size hills scattered throughout to keep things interesting. My primary goal for this race was to enjoy the run and feel good at the finish.  

The race started out like most - crowded and slow. Since I wasn't really concerned about my time I didn't bother weaving through the crowd too much. My first mile came in at just over 10 minutes which is actually right around normal for my first mile. By mile 2 my hands had warmed up enough to let them peek out of my sleeves for the rest of the run. The next 4 miles flew by in a relatively uneventful manner. And then, just as I passed mile 6, my ipod konked out on me - it just stopped playing. I could have stopped or tried to fiddle around with it on the run but I chose to just stash my headphones in my shirt and finish the race without music. Luckily, I've been running without my headphones more frequently so this wasn't a big deal. In fact, I actually run faster without my headphones as my split times below show.

Split times:

         Mile                    Time

1	10:09
2	9:29
3	9:27
4	9:12
5	9:22
6	8:47
7	9:06
8	9:05
9	9:07
10	9:02

I had a really good race. I felt strong the whole time, I managed the hills well and I passed more people than I was passed by. I crossed the finish line with my best 10 Mile time this year. My official time was 1:33:43 (9:23 pace) - 460 out of 1129 runners (all women).

I have two more 10 Mile races on my plans this fall. Next up is the TC 10 Mile. It will be my first time running this race and I am really looking forward to it. Based on the reviews I've read from previous runners and my personal experience with the Women Run the Cities race I'm leaning toward not wearing headphones. I'd like to shave some time off my finish but my primary goal will be to enjoy the race and finish strong. In addition to running the TC 10 Mile I'm looking forward to watching the first finishers of the Twin Cities Marathon finish the race - should be a REALLY good time.

Special thanks to my number one fan - my sweet husband who sacrificed sleep, endured the chilly temps and was there to encourage me before and after the race. I'm am blessed to share my life with him and call him mine.

On my mind

1. It's going to be a chilly start for my 10 Mile race tomorrow - like temps in the 30s chilly.  Here in Minnesota we call that "brisk".  I'm actually looking forward to digging out some of my cool weather running gear!
   
2. Since I'll be running tomorrow morning we're going to check out the Saturday evening service at our church tonight.  I'm interested to see how this service compares to the two Sunday morning services.  Should be fun!
   
3. I really miss my dog.  A lot. 
   
4. I started getting up before work to run.  I'm running on the treadmill because it's still very dark outside at 5:00 in the morning.  Yes - you read correctly - I am getting up at 5:00 in the morning to run on the treadmill.  No - I don't know what they've done with the real Jessy.
   
5. I bought a pair of cowboy boots at Kohl's last night.  They are probably technically fashion boots but they look like cowboy boots to this city girl.  I felt very "country" when I wore them today.
   
6. By some miracle of God it is still feasible that I will hit my goal of running 800 miles this year.  I'm nearing the 500 mile mark and if I can average 25 miles a week for the rest of the year I'll be golden.  Don't ask how many miles a week I have averaged up to this point.
   
7. I bought an FM transmitter for my laptop so I can watch shows on Netflix while I run and listen to the audio through my headphones.  The transmitter actually serves two purposes - 1) I can actually hear the audio over the sound of the treadmill and 2) Chris can't hear the audio over the sound of the treadmill.
   
8. We're going to drop our land line and I'm going to break down and get a cell phone.  At first I was torn between keeping our current number and getting a new number.  Then I looked at the calls we've received in the last two weeks - yeah, I'll be getting a new number.
   
9. I bought a 5.5 QT French Oven at the Le Creuset outlet.  I made pot roast in it last weekend and it is now officially my favorite piece of cookware ever.  Let me know if you have any great French/Dutch oven recipes I should try out.
   
10. I discovered Cherry Berry a couple of weeks ago and have turned into a bit of an addict.  I'm pretty much in love with banana yogurt and firmly believe that everything tastes better with sprinkles on top. 

Race Report - 2012 Minneapolis Duathlon

On Sunday, August 25th I ran the 2012 Duathlon as a relay with my aunt. A duathlon consists of three legs, Run-Bike-Run. The Minneapolis Duathlon consisted of a 5K run, 15 mile bike, 5K run. I ran, my aunt biked. This was our second year competing together as a team and while our primary goal was to have fun we both hoped to improve over last year.

I was up at 4:30 am on race day (I'm pretty sure the last time I was up at 4:30 am was a year earlier on the day of the 2011 Minneapolis Duathlon). I had packed my race bag, pinned my number to my shirt and prepped my breakfast the night before so there wasn't much I needed to do in the morning - just get up, get dressed and head out the door (much more than I normally do before 5:00 am mind you). I met my aunt at her house at 5:30 to drive to the race. The weather was damp and foggy but it was not actually raining - it was about 70 degrees which was nice but a bit troublesome given the sun wasn't even up yet. The transition area was set up differently than it had been last year but the volunteers were out in full force and were very helpful. We racked our bike, talked through our first transition (which I kind of flubbed up last year) and hit the port-o-potties with plenty of time to spare.

First Leg - 5K (3.1 mile) Run
The race started at 7:00 - we were in the 6th wave which was scheduled to take off at about 7:06. The fog had lifted but it was still cloudy which helped to keep the air cool - pretty perfect running weather, actually.  The first run went well, it's a mostly flat course that starts with a 1.5-ish mile loop and finishes with a 1.5-ish mile out-and-back. There is one noticeable hill just after mile 2 but there is a water stop and the turnaround at the top which was both motivating and rewarding. I finished the first run in 28:14 - 9:05 pace and 42 seconds faster than last year (Yeah!).

Transition 1
One of the benefits of having run this same course the year before was that I remembered how far it was from the end of the run to the transition area.  Like most people I push hard for the last few tenths of a mile in a race which is great unless you are running a duathlon and there is an additional few tenths of a mile to run after you "finish" the race. This year I didn't go all out at the end of the first run and the transition went much more smoothly. My aunt was standing right at the front of the chip-exchange area when I got there and we were able to quickly make the exchange. Before I knew it she was off and biking. We managed to complete the first transition in 1:29 - 11 seconds faster than last year (Yeah!).

Second Leg - 15 mile Bike
While my aunt was out killing it on the bike course I had about an hour to kill. I grabbed my bag and copped a squat on a nice little piece of sidewalk. I entertained myself with stretching, snacks and phone calls for about half an hour. At that point they asked everyone to head to the chip-exchange area and being the rule follower that I am, I did. It was at this point that I realized we had not discussed how we would find each other for the second transition. Laurel finished the closer-to-16-than-15 mile course in 53:22 (Yeah!).

Transition 2
Since we had racked our bike within a few feet of one of the entrances to the chip-exchange area, and she needed to rack her bike again before we could make the exchange, I decided to stand at the entrance and just yell her name when I saw her. I saw her riding in and watched her rack her bike - in a different location than we had started in (crap). I watched her start running toward the chip exchange area and then - I lost her! About 10 seconds later I heard her call my name and turned to find her standing exactly where we had said we would meet for the first transition. I strapped the chip onto my ankle and was off. I always seem to be the weakest link on the transitions. We completed the second transition in 2:36 - 56 seconds slower than last year (Boo).

Third leg - 5K (3.1 mile) Run
The second leg followed the same course as the first leg (with a slight deviation at the finish). I felt good and could tell I was running fast even without looking at my watch. I tried to focus on running a smart race and not burning out. When I hit the 3 mile mark I kicked into high-gear and sprinted to the finish. I finished in 26:58 - 8:40 pace, 47 seconds faster than last year and a personal record (Yeah!).

Overall
Our overall time was 1:52:37. We placed 12th out of 42 teams in our category (2-person, female teams). We improved our overall standing as well as the times for each of our legs (and one of our transitions) as compared to last year!

2012 Results - 12th Place out of 42 teams
Overall - 1:52:37  
Run1 - 28:14   
Tran1 - 1:29
Bike (15.8 miles) - 53:22
Tran2 - 2:36
Run2 - 26:58

2011 Results - 17th out of 35 teams
Overall - 1:59:20
Run1 - 28:56
Tran1 - 1:40
Bike (18 miles) - 59:21
Tran2 - 1:40
Run2 - 27:45