Morton Pumpkin Classic 10km 2011

Despite my less than stellar dinner choices last night, this morning's race went off without a hitch!

Yes, I lined up in the "sprint" category. Not sure I was really sprinting, but I'll take it.

The weather was perfect - 50's, little to no wind. I was a little bummed by the "rain" I heard when I woke up, but turns out that was just my parents' pond. No rain. Happy day!


My mom & I headed over around 6:45am for a 7:30am start. She walked/ran the 2-mile portion of the race.


After a quick restroom trip, I got my 10 minute warm-up in, did some leg swings and was ready to go! 

Looking all sorts of awkward waiting for the race to start.

I had never really "raced" a 10km, so I wasn't sure what to expect. My friend Alissa raced the 10km in track, and she always said that first 3 miles are so so easy and then all of a sudden you feel like death. Super.


I went out with the goal of hitting 6:45-6:50 miles, shooting for sub-42:00.


That didn't really happen, but I ran super-even splits, which never happens for me. I am the queen of slowing way down. And I didn't, yay!


Here's my splits:

• Mile 1 - 6:30, yikes, this is closer to my 5km pace! But this feels way easy. 
• Mile 2 - 6:37, settling in, still feeling good.
• Mile 3 - 6:40
• Mile 4 - 6:39, man I'm really holding this pace. I'm impressed with myself.
• Mile 5 - 6:37, starting to burn a bit.
• Mile 6.2 - 7:50 (6:31 avg), I DID IT! And yes the last mile felt like death. But it was ok.

Total time - 40:53, 6:35 avg pace.

Look for me right under the speed limit sign. And funny story - I went to high school with the guy right in front of me; we didn't even realize we were that close to each other in the race.

Needless to say I was very happy. And the even splits! I have never run that even, and even I speeding up at the end. I was so excited.

Momma did awesome as well, sprinting to the finish.

Go, Momma, go!

So after a quick cool-down, we were ready for the real fun of the morning: the pumpkin treats! They have a super-awesome pumpkin pancake breakfast, but the line was literally about 4 blocks long. Insane. We settled for some pumpkin donuts instead.

2 dozen rings of pure delicousness. Don't worry - we picked up a dozen for my great-aunt & uncle. Not all for us.

While waiting for the awards ceremony to start, I chose quite the inopportune time to ask for a post-race pic with my Business Man.

"Come on, can't you see I just want to eat my donut in peace?"

"First you wake me up at 6:30am on a Saturday, and now this."

Finally happy and ready to smile. :)

Mom enjoyed her donut, too. With Maggie's hawkeyes staring her down.

"Can't you just perhaps, drop it?"

And of course I got in on the action, too. So good!

Once our bellies were full, it was time for the awards ceremony. Turns out I was 3rd female overall, and 2nd in my age group (20-34) and won $20! Woot woot. Now if only Nike would come sign me for a contract, I'd really be rolling in the dough.

Next on the hunt was some pumpkin coffee, or even better, a PSL. We headed to the downtown coffee shop with high hopes.

YES!

But the line was forever long. So we moseyed over to our next stop of the morning, Great Harvest Bread Co.

We picked up some bread & sweet treats, and there went my $20 racing prize. But so worth it!

And, they had a little coffee shop inside, and were serving PSL's! Double win.

And a quick stop at the local farm for some pumpkins, we came back to my parents'. 

New fashion look? 

Pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins!

After a visit with my great-aunt & uncle this morning, and my Business Man's family this afternoon, we're off to a 40th anniversary celebration tonight! Busy, busy, but so good to see everyone! :)