securian winter run 5k

Waiting for the race to start.  I failed at self-portraits
today and finally gave in and asked a stranger
to take our picture. But look - my eyes are open!
A little crazy looking, but still...!

I ran two races today: the Securian Winter Race (hosted by the St. Paul Winter Carnival) and the Freeze Your Thorns Off virtual 5k (hosted by Adam@theboringrunner.com). I'll devote an entire post to the FYTO5K, don't worry.

I've had kind of a crappy week, and then got a migraine early Thursday morning.  I ended up leaving work around 9:30 and went home and slept the entire day.  So my "run at least a mile a day" streak ended on Thursday.  I did feel a bit better late in the evening so I took Jane for an airing out - meaning I at least managed to get my 30 minutes of movement in, albeit, v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y.  Yesterday I was still feeling pretty rotten but improving, although I still didn't feel like running.

 But today I felt pretty good.  The Securian 5k was fun for me!  The husband ran with me, but knowing that since I had a chip on my shoe (as opposed to my shoulder) I would want to go as fast as I could, he graciously gave me a kiss and said, "You run your race. We'll meet at the finish line."  So that's what I did - I ran my race.  It was tough little 5k course!  It wound through downtown St. Paul and along the Mississippi for a little while before heading back along the same route.  So sort of an out and back but not really.

NOT a missed photo op! I
have no idea what he was supposed to be
or represent, but I had to get my picture taken
with him.  He complimented me on my
sweet trail shoes. And notice my awesome
Explore MN Challenge hat!

There were some seriously lonnngggg climbs...... when they became the downhills, I tried to get the most out of them and use that gravity.  My shins were really hurting during mile 2 and I had to slow down a bit.  I have no idea what was the issue and I didn't seem to be able to control the SLAPPING of my feet..... damn, that was annoying.  Eventually, whatever was bugging me settled down and I was able to pick up the pace again.

You gotta love runners: The half marathoners went out first, then the 10k runners, then us (we?) 5Kers.  It wasn't too long before we were running into each other (not literally, a bunch of us running one way on the street, and a bunch running the opposite way) so we must have been passing the 10k runners, and a ton of them were shouting encouragement to us.  "You're looking good!"  "Running strong!"  and we were giving them shout-outs right back.  I love that!

This race is the first of the Explore Minnesota Challenge.  I only have to complete 7 more events (in various parts of the state) and I get a bunch of fun stuff.  Today I earned my first of four pins (representing the four parts of the state) which can be proudly displayed on my EMC banner (I'll have to take a picture of that and add it at some point.)  And I'm digging the hat I got.  For the race, I got a cool mug and a Winter Carnival button.  Holy crap, I am a bling whore, aren't I?  Or maybe a bling hoarder?

I love the race logo - "Embrace Brisk" - I should have
bought one of the shirts.  Dammit.

In addition to the self-portrait fail, my photo documentation of the day in general was a fail.  Several missed photo ops: Klondike Kate, a polar bear (although I did get a fist bump from him when I finished the race), the Abominable Snowman or something like that.  It was white and hairy.  And I missed them all.  Dammit!

Anywhoo, I was pretty pleased with myself for running strong up every inch of each of those hills, and I tried to push it a bit to see what would happen.  And even though it hurt a bit, my body didn't explode!   (I think that's been a secret fear of mine.)  And the best part about today?  I got an official PR!!!  And the run streak is back on!

Here are my splits:

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	29:57.8	3.18	9:25
1	9:25.9	1.00	9:26
2	9:39.9	1.00	9:40
3	9:18.7	1.00	9:19
4	1:33.3	0.18	8:35

Man, I LOVE seeing all those sub-ten minute miles!  Of course, I forgot to turn off Garmin Electra a the end of the race - so I ended up with some extra mileage.  My official time is 29:44.  And that's a PR baby!!  Damn, that feels good.

Next up: the Freeze Your Thorns Off virtual 5K report.