Race Recap: Shazam!

Oh, Friends,

What a beautiful day for the Twin Cities 10-miler! I had two goals for this race:

1. don't stop belivin'
2. don't bonk (kinda my forte)

I've never felt so ready for a race in my life (which really, isn't much since I've only really been running for the past 3, 4 years): for the past two weeks I've been mentally ready, giddy with anticipation, having visions of fall colors, overly optimistic conquering the hills, and willing to pass out high-fives to anyone who asked.

I've been physically ready, too: training with the running group, bounding up hills, logging in miles as though I were--training--, and neither the cold nor flu were pestering me the last few weeks of training. And sweet Jesus, that hill work payed off.

With no pacers and a underwhelming representation of mile markers, I was on my own to gauge my pace. I was shocked when miler marker 2 came and I was at 20:00, for I usually run 11:00 miles, absolutely no faster, no slower. And thus, the shock quickly turned into a premature, yet well-deserved, runner's high that kept me going through the rest of the race. 

I saw some well-needed friends at perfectly coordinated cheering spots and imbibed in some BerryBlast! Powerade at just the right time to reverse--yes, reverse--the beginnings of a bonk and prevent it from going any deeper. (Funny thing about bonks is that you realize only after you're out of one that you were in one. Lame.) And so, I cruised to the finish line in 1:40--a personal best, maintaining a 10:03 mile. Sweet marmalade!

Highlights include:

• the verdant first 4  miles on the Mississippi River road
• a child in a bear suit on the sidelines not quite sure whether to cheer or be a bear
• being continuously amazed that I was running a 10:00 pace
• Hearing my friends yell, "way to go, Heidi!" 
• Almost crying out of joy (I managed to hold it in) when hearing the perfectly apropos "Let's Get Ready to Rubmle!" on some loud speakers right on the edge of Summit Ave and the State Capitol
• The fake out at the end and still sprinting to the finish (turns out an American flag held up by the ladders of two fire trucks over the race course isn't the actual finish. That finish line is still about 250 yards away) and thus sprinting for a good quarter mile and managing to shave off 20 seconds!
• Kid-size containers of chocolate milk at the end of the race

I, for one, am looking forward to the 13.1 miles at the end of the month to ice the running cake of 2011!