Happy times at Get in Gear!

That's kind of a spoiler, isn't it? 

I shall take you through the morning, with a warm pizza by my side for sustenance.

Some context: The race is at Minnehaha Falls, on the Minneapolis side of the Mississippi River right across the Ford Parkway bridge that connects Minneapolis and St. Paul.  I've found in past years that it works really well to park on the St. Paul side of the river and meander over to the start line for my warm-up, especially because parking on the Minneapolis side can be nasty. I found a nice spot and jogged over to meet my friend Kate at 8:30 so we could be leisurely before the 9 a.m. start for the 10K and half-marathon.

I was basically marshmallowed up in a bunch of layers at that point and was downright toasty, but I wasn't sure how many of them I should shed before the race.  It was about 42 degrees, and there was this gross blob of rain on the radar coming our way. If that precipitation decided to get serious mid-race, I'd want a jacket. (Cue the same fussing that went on at last week's trail race!)  At the last minute, I decided to just go with my black quarter-zip and 3/4 tights (same as last week, minus the vest) and was so-so-so-so grateful I did that. I got warm as soon as I settled into the race.

Kate and I found our way into the start corral, and we were off!  As I wrote about yesterday, the start at Get in Gear is usually a kind of slow one - there were about 5,000 people in the half-marathon and 10K, which start together - and I'm learning that this is really good for me because it forces a slower first mile to ease into race pace.  I felt fab for the first mile but tried to dial it down a little, since it is easy to feel so good early on in a race like this and then fall apart later.

The 10K is a big rectangle, with the Ford bridge and the Lake Street bridge serving as the two shorter sides and the river road as the longer ones. 

Ha! This is basically a bird's eye view of the course.

Those segments break up the distance nicely for me. I passed Mile 2 and then the Lake Street bridge - and experienced the only really sharp headwind in the race - and then passed the 5K mark averaging 7:50s.

Then comes The Hill. It's the main hill on the whole course and I find it to be just a big pain, whether I am training or racing. Get up and over it, though, and it's pretty flat for the rest of the way, so you can really get moving if you've saved enough effort. I got up the hill, got to Mile 4 and could finally decide that I was having a good day. I felt like I had measured my effort just right and was very excited to realize that my legs were going to be able to hold on for the rest of the way. (This is a great confidence booster, the opposite end of the spectrum from the demoralizing Oh no, I started out way too fast fade!)

This race went by so quickly. It rained lightly the whole time, I think, but I barely noticed it. Miles 5 and 6 were tough, as they should be, but even they went by fast. There were a few stretches in the last two miles where I started checking out a little bit. I refocused - don't give in, don't let up, one block at a time - thanks to some sports philosophy I've been hearing around my home this spring. (It's good stuff!) I was back in the game!

This is looking back just before the six-mile marker, midway across the Ford bridge. I'll clarify that I took this photo post-race, should you think that I had the inclination to leisurely look over my shoulder during the race to snap a context photo.

Before I knew it, I was running up the (long) stretch into the finish chute. By my Garmin watch, I averaged a 7:41 pace - it's probably a little slower in the official results, since humans usually run a tad longer than the official course because we don't hit all of the tangents properly. I am thrilled with that time, but I'm probably even more excited that my second 5K was nine seconds faster than my first 5K. A negative split is a surefire way for a race experience to find its way into my group of favorites. It's just so much fun and so satisfying. To me - and I know this is going to come out hokey - it feels like one of the rare life experiences of getting to watch your mind and your body work together truly in tune.

I was very happy, especially once I had gotten my dry clothes and hat back from the gear check.

Then I attended to important business:

Get in Gear always has ice cream bars, which is exciting to me as an ice-cream lover, but I didn't take one because I was scared I'd get too cold. I did grab a chocolate milk (YUM!), a Salted Nut Roll, and a banana. Seriously. Is this the trifecta of perfect post-race recovery?

I hurried to the finish line to cheer for Kate (yay!) but missed her (boo!).  Why didn't I see her, you ask?  Oh, just because she beat her estimated finish time for her first 10K ever by 15 minutes!  I was so proud. I think she might have the 10K bug.

Then we got cold and wanted to go home, much like this guy:

GET ME OUT OF HERE!

If last weekend's trail race wasn't the spring/summer racing season's official kickoff, today's race was a great way to do it. Today I learned once again the value of not going into a race with expectations because of the temperature and radar. I got closer to my personal best time than I expected, truly had fun racing and got to share in the experience of Kate's first 10K. Thumbs up, all around.

Congratulations to everyone who ran, and special thanks to the race organizers and volunteers!