race report: hot dash 10 mile 2016

Only in Minnesota do you wake up to two inches of fresh snow on race morning. I’d been stalking the weather all week, but nowhere did it say it would be measurable! 

For the second year, the Hot Dash 10 Mile has been my season opener. My race strategy – aside from having fun… no point if you’re not! – was to run, hard, to see where my fitness was at. When coach told me my target pace… yikes. It made me equally really excited and throw up a little bit. 

Nick and I arrived in northeast Minneapolis about an hour prior to the 9:12a start so I could pick up my bib and he could get his 10-mile run done (he’s running Grandma’s in June!) and still see me on the Stone Arch Bridge about a half-mile from the finish. After check-in, I ran into a few friends, checked my down jacket and did a quick warm-up. With about five minutes ’til go, I lined up at the 7:00 mile pace sign, ready to redline for 70 minutes. 

The horn sounded, and we were off. There weren’t too many people to weave around, but man, did folks take off fast. My first mile beeped in at 6:46, and while I told myself to keep it in check until mile five, I was pleasantly surprised at how great my legs felt (on zero rest going into this race). Around mile 2.5, I saw the glow of Nick’s neon yellow jacket running toward me, so I hollered at him to take my jacket… I knew I’d overdressed! 

The miles ticked by fairly quickly. I was pretty happy to hit the turnaround at mile four… because cold headwind. By mile six, I thought to myself: yep, working hard, less than four miles to go, you can do this. At mile eight, I checked in to see how I was feeling – unhappy hammies – and decided to see how far I could drop my pace. Because you can do anything for two miles, right?! When I reached the Stone Arch Bridge, there was no letting off the gas… there were two women in front of me to catch (case in point – the gal in flannel below!)! 

And, when I hit the last half-mile down Saint Anthony Main… hurry up, finish line! I fought back some puke here and focused on keeping up with two guys right in front me me – and, not tripping on the cobbles. The suffering in running races is second to none! Thank you, body and legs!  

official results | 1:08:32, 6:52 pace, 2nd AG (35-39F), 11th OA woman

Garmin 920 splits: 6:46 / 6:53 / 6:49 / 6:49 / 6:46 / 6:43 / 6:46 / 6:50 / 6:37 / 6:31 

Kudos to Twin Cities in Motion for yet another fantastic event! And, big thanks to my tribe – my main man, Nick, coach Andy, Coeur Sports, Sound Probiotics and pure clean powder. I couldn’t make it to the start and finish line healthy + happy without you!