Yesterday, I ran my first race of the 2012 season - Strawberry Plains Half Marathon & 10k. I ran the 10k as a training run for the Knox Half on April 1. I have never raced 10k distance until this race. As y'all know, we have had a very mild winter in Tennessee. There was only one really cold snap in the beginning of January. Dun dun dun & this weekend. Awesome.
The high was 30 degrees with a 40% chance of snow. Cool life. My friend was supposed to run with me, but she backed out a couple days before the race. Even though it was cold, I was excited to run because I love races. They had early packet pick-up on Friday night, so that was appreciated.
Really nice, cute shirt - I hate when they are ugly.
I got to the race about 45 minutes early & I barely got a parking spot. I went straight inside the school to stay warm as long as possible. I went outside with about 5 or so minutes to the start. The wind was NASTY. I could have handled the cold, but the wind was a whole different ballgame. I wore a LS base layer, SS workout top, & a partially fleece lined pullover with full length running tights and gloves.
The race was in Strawberry Plains about 35-40 minutes from where I live. The course was country roads with traffic, so headphones were prohibited. It didn't really bother me because I was mostly listening to other people's conversations. Sorry, but it's not like I could unhear what they were saying. This was probably the smallest race I'd run. I was near the back at the start & was only about 35 seconds from the actual start line. The first mile was pretty crowded & I didn't have a watch, so I didn't know my pace. Thankfully, someone was yelling it out at the first mile. I was about 1 min 30 secs slower than I wanted to be, so I took off. I didn't know my pace again until mile 5. The course was mostly rolling hills, but nothing too steep. It snowed off & on the first half, but pretty consistently on the back half. Pretty cool to say I've done a race while it's snowing!
My goal was to finish in one hour, but when I was heading towards the finish & could see the clock for the first time, it said 1:02 & I ended up finishing in 1:03 for a pace of 10:13. I probably could have pushed myself a little bit harder on the first half.
After the race, they had a great spread of food: oatmeal, chili, pb&j, bananas, oranges, cookies, & most importantly, red velvet cupcakes. I would do a lot more races if there was red velvet involved. I stayed for a little bit, but I was ready to go & meet the girls at Soccer Taco!
Pre-Race Abby
I don't have any of the official pictures yet, but I will try & post when I get them.
Happy Birthday P-Man!! Sorry I had to miss your party!!!
