race recap – Page 3 – French Fry Runner

Last Saturday, I ran the Moab Winter Sun 10k in Moab, Utah. It was a great race and an automatic PR for me since it was the first time I had run a 10k. Cool stuff. Let’s start from the beginning . . .

D900pic-0005 — Super-organized packet pickup

We (my coworkers and I–the Blister Sisters) left around 2:45 on Friday afternoon and made our way to Moab (about 3 hours away). We picked up our packets and went out for some pizza after we got there and had fun eating and talking.

After dinner, we went to a grocery store to grab some chocolate (and Gatorade for me). We then checked into the (super nice) hotel where we stayed the night. The room we stayed in was a 3-queen room, so all 6 of us were able stay in the same room. We stayed up watching Dark Knight and talking until like 11:00. It’s fun to hang out outside of work–especially when you’re friends with the people you work with!

We woke up and had an awesome breakfast provided by the hotel. It was delicious! I had 2 slices of wheat toast with butter and honey, a bit of biscuits and gravy, some juice, and hot chocolate.

Then we all got ready for the race and headed to the shuttles. It was cool outside, not too cold or hot. We hung out at the race start, which was really well organized with fire barrels, water, and hot drinks. Before we knew it, we were ushered to the start line. The race started promptly at 10:00, which was great. I ran with one of my BRFs, who runs about the same speed as I do. She was totally awesome to run with.

The race started with a few rollers before a huge hill at mile 2. We plowed up that thing and slowed down to catch our breath. After that, the race was alternating flat and downhill, which was nice and didn’t tear up my quads too much. We ran through some neighborhoods and through some pretty red rock, and we finished at the local high school track. I felt like dying at mile 5.5–and swore I wouldn’t sprint at the end–but I pushed forward and ended up sprinting anyway at the end to pass a girl we had been leapfrogging with a lot of the race. The food at the end was awesome (unlike the crap we had at the Halloween Half) and well thought out (as in chocolate milk, Gatorade, fruit, and PB&J sandwich quarters. They also had a nice raffle for local stores and stuff (great for the locals).

blister sisters edit-1 — Blister Sisters!

All in all, it was a great race, and as long as I’m still in the area next year, I’m totally running it again.

Official Gun Time: 1:01:36

What’s your favorite race?

(Stay tuned to the for some awesome giveaways in the next little while! I’m thinking 3 would be great, right?)

Oh! AND Handful Bra is having a closeout sale on their size large Original Handful Bra (ONLY $12!). I just bought one, and I can’t wait to try it and review it for you!

I’m sorry that I’ve been MIA for a couple weeks.

First, I just have to tell you . . . I got NEW SHOES–the Saucony ProGrid Mirage from runningwarehouse.com, which, by the way is an awesome site to get running gear. My shoes were $25 cheaper (with a coupon code) there than at my local running store/Sports Authority/Dick’s Sporting Goods. They shipped quickly and were packaged well. AND they’re turquoise and bright green! Yes, I got the color I wanted. I’ve already been complimented on them, so I deem them a success. Also, they’re really comfortable, light, and just make me feel fast.

I wore the shoes to the American Fork Canyon 5k, which was a great race. The morning was nice and cool–perfect for running. It was the race’s first year, and it was super well organized and had awesome shirts (I want like 10 more.). Since I ran the 5k, I don’t know about the half marathon course, but I heard that it was fast and mostly downhill and fantastic.

There was a monster hill in the middle of the 5k, but it was doable. After the hill, it was downhill to flat. I thought I ran a pretty good race and got 16th place in my age group with a time of 33:20. Woo hoo! There were only 35 people in the group (the 5k was pretty small), but it’s good that I was in the top half! 🙂 Here’s a picture of me being really excited at the finish.

All in all, I loved the race. I wasn’t gasping for air at the end, which makes it a success. My goal for next year is to run the half. I’m already excited about it! 🙂

The Freedom Run 5k on the 4th was a bit different. First of all, the weather decided to be hot and muggy, which is weird for Utah. Not the hot, just the muggy. It was almost 80 degrees when the race started. There were also 5,000 runners. At the AF 5k, there were a lot fewer than that! I think I like the smaller races. As I run more, I’ll let you know.

Anyway, the mugginess meant that I was drenched in sweat by the first half-mile. I’m a heavy sweater anyway, but this was ridiculous! I really felt like I was swimming throughout the race. The course itself was pretty good–mostly flat with a gradual incline starting at the last mile, then downhill starting with .2 mi. to go, and flat for the last .1 mi. My legs felt great the whole race, and I even sprinted to the finish! I passed an old man at the finish. Yeah, I felt good about that. I wanted to run faster than I did at AF Canyon, and I did by like 21 seconds for a time of 32:58.96. I hope I continue to improve. It’s nice seeing progress. The goodies at the end were really good, bread, Powerade, grapes, oranges, chips. We also got a medal and a water bottle.

Me and The Husband after I kind of fixed my hair

Pretty sweet.

I liked the shirts too–very patriotic. I’ll probably run it again next year–for the medal of course. 🙂 Where else do you get a medal for a 5k?

Tag: race recap

Winter Sun 10k Race Recap

New Shoes, AF Canyon, and Freedom Run