Women Run the Cities

What better subject for my 1st blog entry than a Women's 10 mile race. This past weekend, my friend Susan and her friend Tara picked me up at 0-dark-hundred on Sunday morning. It was chilly (51), and drizzly as we made our way to Minnehaha Falls. We found a great parking spot, got our packets, and returned to the car to stay warm before the race. What an amazing sight - there were 650+ women lined up for the 10 mile race. My college friend Anne's daughter was there doing her 1st race. Lots of pre-race chatting waiting for the start. I heard more than one person say that with that many women in one spot, they could start the race, and we'd all be standing there yakking away! Finally, the national anthem, and the start. I wanted to run my 1st mile around 9 minutes, and then pick it up from there. Mission accomplished. I had a great run - it was so cool to hear all these conversations/encouragement/etc going on for at least the 1st 4 miles. There were lots of fans (my favorite was the guy on his bike in the orange jacket that I saw at least 10 times), lots of water, and the weather was great. The drizzle stopped around mile 7, but it was chilly the whole way. I proved a couple things - running 15 miles a week for 3 weeks before the race is enough training to have a decent run, and running 15 miles a week for 3 weeks before the race is NOT enough. Not my fastest 10 mile, not my slowest either, but were my legs ever feeling it when I finally got out for another run today! I'll have to step up the training a little over the next couple weeks to get ready for the Nerstrand 1/2 marathon. Thanks to all the women who made this one possible - what a great venue.