A little Loony! TC Loony Challenge

In the midst of our last "smart" running idea we decided that the Loony was next, this consisted of a 10K & 5K on Saturday then 10 Mile on Sunday, I mean after Dopey this was nothing! Not so much considering what I went into the weekend like. Early last week strep hit our house and by Thursday it was my turn! By Saturday I was feeling somewhat better but the antibiotics had started to mess with my gut :( Matt was running so I decided to go and just take it easy. The morning was cold and windy so I bundles up tights and all.

10K: The race was an out an back on the final 3 miles of TC Marathon course, meaning hills and straight into the wind to start!. I settled into a comfortable pace and just ran, no watch to look at. After a potty stop at Mile 3 I made the turn back and was happy the wind was at my back. The final mile is pretty much downhill, 52:15 and I was done! It felt fine, no pushing anything but I was fine.

5K: After staying warm in the care for about 30 minutes we were back at the start line ready to go. This race was a mess! It is aimed at elites down to school groups but lacked common sense in some. The group on the start line was not the elites but an elementary school group intermixed with elites, yikes! Same course as 10K just shorter, duh! Uphill and trying to weave kids who were hand in hand sprinting then stopping was enough to make anyone scream! Luckily I was not racing so whatever. I chatted with a friend from a run group and we ran for awhile then it was all downhill to the finish. 24:00 and easy race, time to warm up!


1 Mile: Now was O's turn! She lined up and Matt joined her and they waited for all the older age groups to go. Her's too was an out and back the final stretch of the TCM course. She is still in child running mentality and would do the sprint and stop method! Guess we work on that :) Soon I saw her smiling face coming down the hill to finish! Around 13:00, so proud of my little runner
10 Mile: Why am I waking up this early in the cold? Oh, right I'm a runner and paying for this! I honestly would have stayed in bed had I not been driving friends to the race! I knew I once again planned to run comfortable and no pressure or goals, just have fun. We walked to the start and waited til the last minute to shed the final layers and check our bags
Do we look warm?
Dawn and I headed to corral 1 and tried to stay warm for the final few minutes. And soon we were off, but despite reminding Dawn I was NOT racing and her insisting we were going easy our pace was not agreeing! We ran and chatted the first few miles but after almost 3 hilly miles of sub 8 I let her go ahead and slowed down knowing I had nothing to prove and just needed to be smart. I settled into an easier pace and just decided to enjoy the run. Soon we were hitting Summit and I was feeling slightly jealous of the marathoners (okay not really since I would have never survived 26.2 the way I was). Somehow those hills seem much less at miles 6-10 then 21-26! I soon rounded the corner and there I could see the finish line, downhill and go...1:20:55 By no means my fastest but I'll takes it!
ONly slightly warmer afterwards!
I finished and said so more race challenges, but Monday I saw I had finished 6th in the challenge despite times I could easily improve so I'm toying with the idea of going back.
The collection of Loony medals

Comments

  1. JenniferOctober 10, 2014 at 8:07 AM

    Great job!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. jillconyersOctober 10, 2014 at 4:49 PM

    I would go back too! I would love to try this challenge.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Coach JenOctober 13, 2014 at 7:09 AM

      Jill, come up here next year for the challenge :)

      Delete
  3. DavidOctober 10, 2014 at 5:01 PM

    The Twin Cities Marathon is one of my favorite races. I'm not tempted to try this challenge, but I may have to run the 10 miler some day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Coach JenOctober 13, 2014 at 7:09 AM

      Love TCM too and the 10 Mile is a fun alternative.

      Delete

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