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9.30.2011

Women Run The Cities: Part II

As I mentioned in this post, I had a wonderful time last weekend with Lisa in the beautiful city of Minneapolis. But we didn't just eat and see the sights. One of the things that I went to visit for was the Women Run the Cities 10 Mile Race, located in Minnehaha Park.

The night before I set out all my gear. Those striped things are either leg warmers or arm warmers, and were one of the free things we got when we signed up. The race was (shoe) chip timed. The race I had the weekend before was chip timed, but the chip was on my bib, which was super convenient.


This time there was no funnel cake carb loading, just a nice dinner of chicken and pasta, cooked by Lisa and served with a beautiful salad and lots and lots of water. Before the race, as always, I had to pee and not-surprisingly, I also had to go again around mile one. I have a pea sized bladder. It's ridiculous.

Aside from Lisa and I, we also met up with Raquelita, who lives a couple of hours away. She and her husband were really nice! And then we were off! This race was great, it went along the sides of the Mississippi river and was along a tree lined road. There were a few hills, one really big one around mile 4 and one around mile 7. The weather was about 44 degrees when we started but warmed up into the 50s during the race.

I finished first and then ran to the car to get the camera so I could take photos of the girls coming in.

Here is Lisa.


Here we are afterwards. 


Here is Raquelita. 


Afterwards, we went to Victors 1959 Cafe for brunch and some great Cuban food! We also bored Raquelits's husband to death had some great conversations about running, traveling, books and life! These girls were great and it was nice to finally meet up with them! I felt like we had known each other for years.


For those non-runners, you can look away now. Runners, here are my stats:

Total Miles: 10
Total time: 1:23:36 (according to Garmin)
Average of: 8:22/mile
Place overall: 140/1050
I was 14 minutes behind the 1st place girl in my age group and 20 minutes behind the first place overall. That means I need to run at least a 6:22 mile to win next time. YEAH RIGHT!

I felt good the entire time. I always try to keep up with someone who is a little faster than I want to really go. In this case, I was trying to keep it under an 8:30 pace. The first mile was packed with people and so most of it was spent dodging and weaving. Finally around mile 2, the course freed up and I was able to get into a steady pace. It went well until I was running mile 7 and I thought that I only had one mile left and when I got to the 8 mile marker, I was a little disappointed. My right hip and butt cheek were really starting to seize up by then. However, I just pretended I was doing a Yasso and my last mile was actually my fastest (7:55).

All in all, this was a good race. I would recommend it to anyone. OH, I almost forgot to tell you guys. I have never run a 10 mile race before, so this was also my 10 Miler PR! It sure is nice when it's your first time; you ALWAYS PR on your first time!

You may also want to read:
Raquelita's Race Report
Lisa's Race Report 
My Races and Places Page: Other runs I have done. 

One other thing. I JUST signed up for THIS Marathon. It's 10 weeks away. Do you guys think I can be ready by then? I can already run 13 miles. I figured I may as well just keep adding on, rather than trying to start from the beginning next year. However, it is going to be dark a lot (and cold) during my training times. What do you think? Is it do-able? 

What races did you run this weekend? How did you do? Have you ever run a marathon? Was the training intense?

Don't forget to go over to Jills and check out the other Fitness Friday posts!

14 comments:

  1. Lisa is my girl!!! Absolutely love love love her. So glad you got to hang with her for the weekend.

    You put up quite a race too! I think you'll be fine training for the full marathon. I've done two already, and with IMFL coming up and 3 full mary's on tap for next year I'm hoping to do the same thing. Take my ironman fitness and transfer it up to some fast marathons in Jan, Feb, and March.

    Let me know if you need help with a training plan to get you there.

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  2. Way to go!!! How exciting to have a marathon coming up!! Woohoo!

    I have a half this coming weekend! I hope I have the great temps you had during your race!!

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  3. Great race and stats,well done :)

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  4. Hi there! New to your blog! I am your newest follower! I found you via the Gourmet Runner. Can't wait to read more about your adventures :)

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  5. What a fun race! I love to see the pictures!

    Yes, I think you can be ready for the marathon... the half is just a stepping stone to get there - right?

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  6. M. assures me that he was not at all bored at brunch by our runner talk. :) It was my first 10 mile race too, and I loved the automatic PR factor.

    I definitely think you could do a full marathon in 10 weeks if you can already run 13! You just need to reserve a couple of weeks for tapering, but that gives you 7-8 weeks to increase your mileage up to a 20-22 mile long run.

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  7. Looks like you had a wonderful time! Love the pics and good for you for hanging on through the pain. It's hard!

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  8. Way to go! You should be proud of what you accomplished. Good luck on the upcoming marathon, I'm looking forward to seeing how you do! I'm following you and it would be great if you followed me back.

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  9. What a great race!! Glad you got to spend some time with Lisa! :)

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  10. Nice pace! Congrats on a race well run. I really need to read more about Yasso!!

    Wonderful photos.

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  11. You got some great pictures! :) Glad one of us did. ;) I sure didn't, as usual! Maybe if I got a nicer camera I would take more pics? My snap & shoot is on it's last leg, good thing Christmas is just around the corner!

    You ran a super duper strong race, girl. You are so ready for a marathon. Just keep steadily increasing your distance as you appoach the marathon, getting a 20 miler in 3 weeks before the race, and then taper, and you will be set. You are so ready for this and I have heard great things about CIM. YOu will do great and I wish I could be there to cheer you on, but I am glad you'll have some fans there to cheer you on as you will need them for that race!

    Besides increasing your mileage, I would start playing around with different fuel sources. I like gu's but it's different for every runner. My friend Lauren carries Lara bars and eats a little bit of that every 6-8 miles or so to fuel. Just find something that works because you definitely need something more than fluids when preparing for the marathon!!

    Good luck!!!

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  12. Great ten miler, that times is fantastic!

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  13. You kicked some boo-tay in that race! awesome :)

    And you are so super sweet to run and get a camera to capture your buddies :)

    Visiting from the Fitness Friday Hop :)

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  14. I don't know how people can run a mile in 6:22, let alone sustain that pace for 10 miles!

    Congratulations on your finish. You had a great time!

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