Livin' the Dream in Lima

This weekend, my Business Man & I traveled home to visit our families. It has become our little tradition to head home the weekend of the Pumpkin Fest  - the cooler temps have usually just  arrived, there's pumpkin goodies all around, and of course, I get to race the Pumpkin Classic 10km . It's the perfect way to kick off fall. We got home late Friday night, and after a short night's sleep, we were up bright & early for the 10km. I know I haven't been blogging much about my training this fall (slacker!), but I've been putting in lots of hard work. Long runs, interval sessions, tempo runs. I was really excited to race yesterday morning, to see what kind of shape I was in. (I hadn't raced seriously since July 4.) My momma came along to walk the 2-mile, and my Business Man came to cheer us both. (My dad had to work, or he would've been there, too.) The weather was perfect - 50s and sunny, perfect for racing. Mom & I at the start, looki...

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-...