First 10K!

Yesterday was the GO! St. Louis Halloween 10K.






I thought it would make a nice "dress rehearsal" for the 1/2 marathon next Sunday so I signed up and encouraged Big Ring to do the same. SK also signed up, which was cool because we've been running 10K's every thursday for the past month. BR had to do 10 miles, per coaches orders, so she started out the morning early to get the first 4 out of the way. Needless to say, she did NOT don a costume for this one, but SK and I did!
We managed to both be Genie's of some sort too, without intentionally coordinating.

My Genie costume was midriff exposed and I soon discovered it was not too photogenic, but ay...whatever.

Somehow we managed to find each other, including BR, within 3 minutes of the start. We all crossed the start line together and then SK was off. She has a tendency to start fast, so I knew I needed to just settle in or it'd hurt to try to keep up with her. She got such a distance ahead, I didn't think we'd see her again until the finish.

BR and I helped pace one another, however, it was pace by feel because I switched Nike+ hardware right before this run and couldn't figure out how to check our pace as needed. We relied on the mile updates and tried to adjust from there.
Since I started my iphone/Nike+ before the start and we had to talk for a couple of minutes in the sea of people just to cross the start line, our first mile pace was SLOW (11:40) but I knew it was skewed a bit. The course was also fairly hilly, including a climb up Russell in Soulard.

My Genie costume included a coin belt (ala belly dancer belt) and jingled out my rhythm the whole way. It also apparently confused, surprised and annoyed some other runners because I fielded a few comments and strange looks.

BR proved to be incredible at the bob and weave through the crowd, finding one "hole shot" after another and keeping us on pace despite the variations in the crowd. I just followed her lead and directions and we stayed with one another for nearly the entire race.

I made jokes and silly comments about most of the costumes we saw and we focused on a couple of "rabbits" up the road.... Literally. We caught the first rabbit at around 4 miles and also managed to pass Buzz Lightyear and Woody (Who were ahead of us with a nice steady pace from mile 2). I set my sights on another rabbit and helped BR fall into a groove when she started to groan from the miles (she DID have 4 more miles under her feet already!)

Just as I commented that we couldn't even see SK, BR says "There she is" - about 50 feet ahead of us! I knew with that jingly belt that I couldn't sneak up on her but BR and I put her in our sights and caught up to her. We all ran together for about 1/4 mile and as we made the turn with about 1 mile to go, a power song came on the ipod and I just went with it. I was feeling great and settled in to the music groove (Beastie Boys - Professor Booty!)
I soon pulled ahead of BR and SK and unbeknownst to me, gathered a descent margin. As the finish line came into view, I was both excited and relieved to be finishing strong, but WAIT!.....
Instead of heading straight up the block to Chestnut, we had to turn right...away from the finish and head a couple more blocks up Market! Ugh.. A HUGE headwind from the East was there to greet us too! To make matters worse, my costume was hindered by cross winds, with pieces of fabric trying to hog tie me at the knees as I ran.
That last 1/4 mile was a challenge, but I still felt strong and managed to move past several more runners approaching the finish. I  managed to catch and pass 2 more "rabbits" but Wonder Woman nipped me at the finish line (She's SUPER strong :)

I finished with a time of 1:03:13.

The GPS on my Nike+ had us at 6.33 miles. My fastest 10K time yet! I guess if I continue with this running stuff, I'd like to shave off those 3+ minutes to come in under 1 hour, but we'll see.

BR and SK finished right behind me and I learned from the results that my long-time friends Deeds and Lisa finished right in front of me! I wish I had seen them!

I was sweaty and getting stinkier by the minute. That Polyester costume DOES NOT wick sweat or stink at all! In fact, I think it intensified the stink! That limited the amount of time I wanted to hang out in that costume and the distance I wanted to sit/stand from those around me!

SK headed out first, to Queeny Park for round 2 of adventures today. BR and I headed to grab a bite to eat and discuss some strategy for next weekend.

What a great way to start the morning! I am ready for next weekend!!! Come on 1/2 Marathon!