LLBean 4th of july 10k

ever seen a red port-a-potty?

how about a purple one?

or how about a purple port-a-potty that is just for the ladies!

yup. this race had some sweet stuff (including the free new balance sneakers to the first 400 entrants!). cool weather and a flat course were sadly not part of that sweet stuff. oh well, we still managed to survive.

pre race photo shoot with andrea:

i did a few things for this race that ive never done before, which is pretty much not something you are supposed to do. but really, have i ever been one to follow any sort of rules? i make my own rules.
i started my morning like i normally do on race day... cup of coffee (black with one truvia) and a piece of peanut butter toast. about 15 minutes before the race i tried this gatorade prime stuff. its like flavored sugar watery substance that wasnt terrible but wasnt great. i only drank about half. i also wore the shoes they gave us which i had worn only for about 20 minutes to the grocery store, with no socks. felt pretty good. putting them on before the race with my feetures running socks they felt a little tight. not gonna lie, i got kinda worried here and wished i had brought my old shoes. but im an idiot and didnt. contemplated running barefoot for a few seconds. that idea passed.

after hearing the national anthem, off we went. here i am somewhere around a quarter mile in. i was feelin good at this point, and ran mile 1 in 7:21. im pretty sure you can see the look of "yeah im running fast now but this is definitely not going to last" on my face in this pic.

mile 1 to 2 are pretty flat with some downhill. that doesnt last long. i got to mile 2 at 15:08, for a split of 7:48. still not bad, but i knew i was already running out of gas, which isnt a good feeling with 4 miles left to go. and i knew we still had the hills coming up. yay.

right before mile 3 we ran onto a dirt road, which was not fun. big rocks everywhere. got to mile 3 at 23:31, for a split of 8:23. and this. is where. i fell. a.p.a.r.t.

this might have been what felt like the longest mile in my entire life. i remember looking at my pace and it was 9:30. i felt like i was running in mud. there was a water stop shortly after getting back onto the paved road so i grabbed a quick drink. looked back down at my watch... pace 16:45. oh yeah, thats called walking. this lasted for about 8 seconds and then i yelled at myself to f-ing man up and start running again. kept an 8:40 pace for a little while but slowly made it back down to 9 minute miles.

mile 4 read 32:10 (split 8:39), and a lady was at the 5 mile marker yelling out race times, 41:33 (split 9:23. that last mile was b.a.d). i wanted to walk really bad during the last mile but who does that? not me. i did pick up a water cup though and dump it down my back. that felt really good.

here is joan benoit samuelson coming in for the womens winner in todays race at 38:25! (keep in mind she is 53 years old!! speeeedy!) joan was the 1983 boston marathon winner 2:22:43, 1984 winner of the first ever womens marathon in the los angeles olympics and founder of TDBank beach 2 beacon 10k. she also holds the course record for this race. shes pretty awesome.

28 year old patrick tarpy won for the men, setting a new course record with a time of 30:51. yeah, i still pushing for mile 4 at that point.

and finally here i come.... really stuggling to finish...

but i sure as hell was going to sprint and pass as many people as i could before the finish! nike+ pace read 6:58 when i crossed the finish line. i probably kept that pace for all of 8 seconds.

and this has to be the.very.best.race.pic.EVER. yay andrea!

i havent gotten the official race finish time yet but i was somewhere around 51-52 minutes. not my worst time, but not my best. and i am actually happy with that time for how i felt. surprisingly the shoes didnt give me any blisters and felt pretty good, but i still dont really recommend that you try doing the same. im pretty sure my feet cant get much grosser, so they probably were like aw hell, whats she doing now and just decided to comply. (i probably shouldnt write posts after a long hot day spent out in the sun. im tired).

heres our lovely post race photo

i saw 11 (yes, i counted) golden retrievers before/during/after the race. if you know me well enough, you know im totally obsessed with goldens, and when we get ours you know thats all im ever going to take pictures of. but for now, ill just take pics of other peoples. i mean really, how could you not want to take this little guys pic?! 10 weeks old and absolutely adorable. im actually surprised i didnt cry.

overall andrea and i gave the race two thumbs down. jake has a look somewhere between "yeah its hot but i PR'd so ill take it". yay for a PR in this heat/humidity. you win todays hardcore award!

last year this race was sarahs very first ever race. ive said it before and of course ill mention it again, she had the joy of crossing the finish line and throwing up in the street! yay for post race puking! haha.

here we are last year post race....

and here is this year post race. things are just a littttttle bit different this year (incase you werent sure, she didnt run) :)

sarah was on official camera duty, and i must say she did an excellent job!! she parked herself near the police/rescue at the finish line, just incase she happened to go into labor. i didnt see her when i was coming in to the finish and when i couldnt find her post race i thought maybe she actually HAD gone into labor! i found her shortly there after, still with her baby bump. phew! (dear baby tyler, as much as we all want to meet you, please wait to welcome us with your presence until i return from the midwest. thanks!)

so, race #7 of 12 is officially in the trash can books. #8 is set for august 7th, TD Bank beach 2 beacon! the race that pretty much started my running career, and is my current 10k PR (47:50). lets hope that race goes better than todays! oh, and ty has yet to start training. he set his alarm this morning to get up and run, but shut it off, slept another hour and a half, and had left over chinese for breakfast. natural born athlete ;)