Well, I survived it! Here is my official Hermes Cleveland 10-Mile Race Report.
When my DH and I arrived downtown, we met up with a friend of mine. We went to get our chip timers and to hopefully find a bathroom. Much to our dismay, the lines for the restroom were a mile long! We decided to try the porto-potties (ICK!) by the starting line, but when we got there, the line was even longer! With just 10 minutes left till the start, we figured we'd either have to just hold it, or find a very discreet spot! (We did the former!) Anyhow, as the race started, the clouds grew darker and the rain began spilling down upon us. I thought, "Oh GREAT!" Lucky enough though, the rain only last about 1-2 minutes and then it was done for the rest of the day. :-) Here's a break down of the rest of the race...from what I can remember!
Miles 1-3: Course went through the streets of Cleveland. Weather was great and course was flat. Tons of racers! I focused mostly on just setting a good pace and enjoying it. I still felt like I had to go to the bathroom, but I figured I could stop at a porto potty if I needed to more towards the end. (Turns out while I thought there were two porto stops, there was only one! I had no choice but to hold it!)
Miles 4-6: Ran on a long straitaway along Burke Lakefront Airport with the wind at my back. Felt great! Had some Sport Beans at about mile 5.
Miles 7-8: Ran back the other way with a strong headwind and all uphill! UGH! This is where I started depending on my trusty new Timex Ironman to get me through it. I just focused on getting though 1 mile or 10 minutes at a time. I also noticed too that my legs felt STRONG on those hills! I swear those Firm videos (AKA: Squat workouts from Hell) seriously prepared my legs to push up those hills with really little effort!
Mile 9-10: Steeper hill, but we were now back downtown so I knew I was close to the finish! I thought, this is it! I dug down and really pushed it in for the last mile. There was a really nice runner who had already finished and was standing on one of the streets. She was yelling to us all, "The finish line is right around this corner! You can do it!" I looked at my Timex and thought, "That can't be right -- my split for this mile is only 8 minutes...I still have another two minutes..." I trusted her though and really put it into gear. Sure enough, as soon as I turned that corner, I saw a huge crowd and the finish clock. I don't know what came over me, but I found a gear that I never knew existed and seriously sprinted to the finish! I heard the announcer say, "Whoa, look at this girl come in. And she just ran 10 miles folks!" I was so excited! I was happy too to see the clock and my Timex time which both had a time lower than my goal time! My goal time was 1:45 and my official finish time was...(drum roll)...1:39:35! Woo hoo! Not bad for three weeks off of serious running...bum knees...and seriously having to pee by that point!
Anyhow, here are my not-at-all-consistent splits via my Timex Ironman:
Mile 1: 9:50
Mile 2: 10:05
Mile 3: 9:57
Mile 4: 10:25
Mile 5: 9:40
Mile 6: 10:05
Mile 7: 10:05
Mile 8: 10:12
Mile 9: 10:24
Mile 10: 8:53 WHOA!
Thanks for reading my LONG RR. Didn't I say this was going to be short? Ooops! Sorry! :-)
WAIT, ONE LAST THING! I do want to take a moment to say how totally awesome my DH is! He drove down to the race with me today, carried an insane amount of my stuff, took the job as my personal photographer, and cheered for me the whole way! He told me how proud he was of me at least 10 times and even took me to Wendy's for a frosty after the race! I am so thankful to have such a supportive husband! THANK YOU! XOXOXO
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