Resolution 1 - Run the Half Marathon - Progress Update

As promised last blog, I am reporting back from the first race I ran, well the first race I ran since cross country track meets back in elementary school. The 2013 Frozen Feat 10K went about as well as I thought it would. Looking back at previous year's results, and comparing to my average running pace I predicted I would finish in the middle of the pack, which is pretty much what happened.

I was feeling pretty good going into race day and with 22 degrees forecasted as the high. Bad news was it was not suppose to warm up until the afternoon and at 10am race time it was 0 degrees. I threw on a windbreaker on top of what I was wearing for the practice runs, which definitely helped because it was kind of gusty out there with light blowing snow on top of it which led to many people with icicle beards, yours truly included.

I was probably a little too excited at the beginning of the race, especially since I had "Gonna Fly Now" from the Rocky Soundtrack as the first song on my playlist which wound up to me starting at a pace a little faster than I intended. It led to the first two miles going really well and me passing by many fellow runners, but after the two mile mark my speed gradually slowed down for the remainder of the race and I saw many runners passing me for the rest of the race.

At least I ran it nonstop, with no walk breaks and broke my record for the three practice runs I did in the week leading up to it. I finished with a time of 53 minutes, 57 seconds and an overall place of 50th out of 108 runners competing in the 10k. Thank goodness they had hot soup inside right after the race which I immediately grabbed after finishing. I then hunted down my mom and her boyfriend who were watching and saw me finished and complemented me on my icicle beard. They treated me to Perkins afterwards where I lost track of how many cups of coffee I put down. They snapped a photo of me which I included here, I apologize for not getting one right after the race so you all can witness my icicle beard, maybe next year!

First race experience was a thrill, when checking in I picked up a packet of many other upcoming races that I have been pondering over to compete in or not, including an upcoming 10K in Crookston, and a 50K in the middle of the Cheyenne Grasslands in North Dakota which I absolutely should not compete in, but just that type of scenery and journey of a race is mighty tempting not to pass up. We shall see!