The Snowman Shuffle

Yesterday morning I headed out into the blistering cold to run the farthest I've run yet: 6.4 miles.  As you know, I'm in the midst of training for my half marathon in March.  Seeing as how I tend to do much better with intermediate goals as a subset to that outstanding long-term goal, I signed up for my very first 10K, The Snowman Shuffle.

I convinced my friend, Gretchen, to run it with me a few weeks ago.  As soon as she committed, I made her log-on and register so there was no turning back!  She's frugal with her money like me.  We pay for it - we do it.  So I knew we were in it for the long-haul.

The farthest I had run in my 'training' was 5 miles so I was a little nervous about this 6.4 mile feat.  I've also gotten accustomed to running primarily at night (after my joints and muscles have had all day to loosen up) so beginning this race at 9:00 AM was a little frightening.

But alas, we trudged through the cold, donned our bibs, swigged our last cup of water, and headed to the starting corral.  Soon enough the horn sounded and we were off!

6.4 miles later with no water and no walking involved, I was so glad it was over.  Truth be told, I hit the 5 mile mark and the running went from fun to not fun very quickly.  Had I not been the entirely stubborn, determined-not-to-stop person I am, I totally would have given in and walked.  But I didn't.  Because I had promised myself I would make it the full 6 1/2 miles running the whole way.  And I did.  Barely:

Let's talk about the positives that came out of this run.  Besides having an awesome running partner who happens to run at the exact same pace (and with the same stubborn motivation I have), we shaved a few seconds off our usual 12 minute mile time and finished the race at 11:12/m.  Yes, I know, we run at a tortoise pace.  But we finished and ran the whole time, ok?  My chip time was 1:09:37 so I'm just gonna give myself a pat on the back for running 70 straight minutes.  Another positive of this race was the absolutely beautiful day and scenery we were privy to.  The picture above should be all the evidence you need.  A background like that makes running for an hour so much more enjoyable!

After the race we headed to the party area for a banana and gatorade.  Oh, and a coke.  I don't keep these in my apartment to avoid the temptation of drinking them regularly, but figured I could treat myself later in the day to a cold glass of coca cola.  And I did.  And it was great.

We decided to cure our hunger pains with a nice brunch at Nick & Sam's.  I ordered the Cinnamon Apple Spiced Pancakes and they were every bit as delicious as they look:

Complete with a side of cheesy hash browns and a green apple/pear drink from the fresh juice bar, I was pretty much in brunch heaven.  Needless to say, I devoured the thing.

So on my running checklist I have:

5K: check, check

10K: check

15K: to be run

Half: to be run

Not a bad scoreboard.  Now I have the 15K to prepare for.  Four weeks and then 9.6 miles here I come!