Wow, where to even begin! It feels like its been FOREVER since I have ran a race, and even then I don't think I did an RR with my last race because I was very disappointed with myself. With that being said lets get this show on the road!

I decided to do this race when several of my co-workers asked if I wanted to run it with them. I was dealing with some IT band issues but I figured what the heck, I'm not known for my common sense when it comes to doing things I shouldn't do so I agreed to it. Well one things leads to another and they all back out leaving me to make the decision if I wanted to run it or not so I figured what the heck, even if I have to walk / run I figured it would be a fun experience. I went ahead and asked my cousin-in-law if he wanted to run it with me since his XC season was over and with the permission of his parents (he has SVT) he agreed to run it as well.

These past few weeks have been rough on me, I've had shoe issues (mistake of buying stability shoes) causing some pretty serious IT Band issues. I finally swapped shoes and found a pretty nice self massage to apply as well as some stretched and rolling with The Stick, plus I finally got around to buying a foam roller that I have used daily since I bought it. With everything applied I went out Tues for a 35 min run and finished it pain free! This was the only workout I got in this week and I was feeling very nervous about my run and how well I would perform.

Moving along to race day. Woke up at 5:15am and did pretty much the same thing I do every morning. Bathe, tend to the dogs, fix coffee and eat some breakfast. Breakfast consisted of bagel with cream cheese and coffee and then about 30 minutes before the race ate 1/2 a cliff bar and some Gatorade. This really seemed to do the trick and I didn't have the usual head ache that follows a race. We left the house about 6:30 and arrived at the race around 7:10am. We found our way to the auditorium that was giving out race packets and what-not and got in some potty time before race start. At about 7:30am Jon and I head out and do some warm up running / stretching before the race. We take about 15 mins for the warm up and head over to the crowd to get ready to run!

Here are some pics taken before the race began,

So the race starts a few mins after 8am and we are ready to go! Here are a few pics of the start line before we start talking about splits,

So were off! As crowded as it was it didn't take long for me to find my pace and just focus on the goal I had in mind.

Mile 1 - The first mile was like most first miles. Even though we warmed up it still sucked. From the lack of sleep and lack of training I really felt this first mile more than I should. I try to keep a sub 9 min pace though (I can PR with a 9mm avg) and just focus on that. I finish the first mile and my watch has me at 8:42, now just 5.2 more miles to go....

Mile 2 - This mile gets slightly better than mile 1 but I'm still not feeling as upbeat as I would have hoped, I just try to hold the pace though and just focus on the people around me, mainly the 3 women that were chit-chatting. I found it amusing just listening to them talk between breathes 2nd mile was 8:45, so far so good!

Mile 3 - Here comes the steady incline and it wasn't as bad as I was expecting and considering the hill at the Cotton Row it paled in comparison, but still, I'm already not where I want to be physically for this race so the hill takes its toll and slows me down a little bit, but its OK! I just keep telling myself I got this while trying to admire the surrounding and listening to the 3 women that just love to talk. Mile 3 - 9:07, not bad and still very easy for me to maintain a 9mm avg.

Pro photo somewhere between miles 3 and 4

Mile 4 - About half this mile was uphill and then it started to level off and proceed downhill. The only thing I was thinking at this point was please let the incline stop so I can manage a sub 9 for this mile.... Mile 4 - 8:53 WOOT WOOT!

Mile 5 - Oh thank you Sweet Lord!!!! Downhill baby, the IT Band is holding up, no pain, I'm breathing like I"m dying and I just want easy for a little while. I buckle down into my downhill cruise and away we go. WEEEE! Mile 5 - 8:24, this so totally made up for the 9:07 last mile, I'm still on point for a PR!

Mile 6 - Holy sweet mother, I don't know what happened during this mile but both of my hips felt like they were going to just completely stop working for me, the upper part of my shoe was to tight and digging into my foot causing my entire left foot to go numb and all I knew was I needed a sub 9 min mile. At this point I just felt like the little engine that could and I just toot tooted along. Mile 6 - 8:42

Last 0.2 - I don't even know what to say at this point, I simply didn't have any gas left, I pushed what little I had managed to pass a few people and finished the last .2 at a 8:03 pace.

Avg pace 8:46, total distance according to watch was 6.23 and I finished with a time of 54:25 chip time and my watch had 54:26 so can't argue with those results! Oh and that's a PR so Hell to the Yea baby! Old PR 55:17. I really feel I could have performed better but I was ill-prepared.

Of course my wife being awesome, gets some fun pics of the family while I'm out running because you can't ever have to many pics.

Now for some finish photos. The first 2 are the 1st place male and female winners.

Second and third male

Now just some random early finishers

Here is my cousin-in-law, he finished in the top 200 which got him an additional shirt, pic further down the post

He is the one in the orange Track Shack singlet

Just random people finishing in no particular order.

We even had wonder woman out there running!

Now here are some of me, because you know, I'm not that fast and a lot of people finished ahead of me.

I'm in the back, middle of the pic beside the lamp post, the guy with the crooked foot! lol. Now about that foot, I know I probably have terrible form but that about as straight as my foot gets, I had a accident when I was 5 and fell off a horse and my leg got stepped on. The doctor didn't set my leg properly so now for me to hold my knee straight my leg turns outwards at about a 30-35 degree angle :/ Funny thing, its my other leg that gives me so much trouble. go figure.

This race was pretty awesome and I would most definitely be doing it again next year. But mark my words, next year will be sub 50!

Here are some quick after race pics. The shirt that Jon (cousin-in-law) is the Top 200 shirt that he received, pretty sweet!

And here is the shirt we received in our race packet! Pretty sweet shirt!

Last two pics I promise. Course map and elevation chart

Time : 54:26

AG : 69 / 122

Overall : Wasn't posted

Elevation Gain : 299ft

Cotton Row 10k

Chip time : 56:17

Elevation Gain : 394ft

Well I hope you enjoyed the RR and I hope I the next ones that follow are spread out so far apart!

That's pretty sweet!   Glad the ITB didn't give you any trouble

Thanks!

Congratulations!  Sounds like you ran a solid race and really left everything out there on the course!

I know what you mean about the chatters.  In my 10-miler, I was working hard at maintaining my race pace, which happened to be pretty much the same exact pace as these two women who were having a good time chatting as they were out for a comfortable jog. 

Glad to see you back and having a great race!

Congrats on the PR, how many finishers? It looks like a really big run. Where is the time for the 200 cutoff?

From just adding up the number of runners in each group it looks like 1,486 runners. Also if I had to take a stab in the dark I would say the top 200 was somewhere around sub 47 or 48.

Nice job. Congrats on the PR!  you just need to get your other foot stepped on by horse   apparently I need to do that as well Since I have so much trouble. Ha

Hooray for a pain free race! Great job, and for sure, next time will be sub-50:00 for you! I love all of the pictures, yours, the racers, and most of all, your lovely family. Awesomeness all around!