Saturday, October 17, 2009

Race Report - Run for the Apples 5 Miler

After what feels like months of crappy weather (okay, it's only been a couple of weeks), this morning I was shocked to see some light creeping in through my bedroom window. Two possibilities: alien spaceship landing in my front yard or the sun. Even though I thought the alien spaceship was more likely, the sun was actually shining. A crisp, sunny, perfect fall morning.

Sophie and I picked up Jim and we headed to White Bear Lake and the Pine Tree Apple Orchard. This race starts a couple of months of my must run races and I have been looking forward to it all summer. As we were standing around waiting for the start, I got to meet Melissa. It was a great surprise to meet a fellow running mommy blogger.

Once the race started, it was a s-l-o-w first mile with lots of walkers and runners just mish mashed everwhere. When you have hundreds of people running through the paths of an apple orchard, it really takes a while to spread out. The first mile marker is right back near the start, so I was happy to be able to ditch my jacket with my mom and Sophie. The sun was warming me right on up!

The second mile starts with a really tough hill. The word "hill" doesn't really do it justice. I just kept reminding myself that this was the worse it gets. And kept putting one foot in front of the other. I slowed up a couple of times to wait for Jim because I really wanted to run this race for fun, together. About a half mile from the finish, I could hear the crowd and the announcer and felt the excitement of being so close to being done. Kick time. The final downhill was slick and I really had to concentrate on not falling on my face. Success. Crossed the finish line in 44:51. Garmin says 44:17, but I wasn't sure exactly where the start line was, so who knows. Either way, another year at a fun race.

After we had a chance to catch our breath (and preview the awesome finish line picture my mom snapped - hopefully I'll be able to edit this post tomorrow and add the pic), we headed into the apple store to load up on apple treats. Yum.

For post-race recovery, I've been channeling my inner domestic godess. My grandparents, mom, and in-laws are all coming over tomorrow, so I cleaned, scrubbed, organized. Oh, AND I made some delicious cornbread from scratch and my first ever cheesecake (pumpkin). Hopefully it tastes as good as it smells! Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

13 comments:

Carly said...

LOL....I had the same reaction when I saw the sun this morning.

Nice job on the 5 miler. That sounds like a fun race.

Anonymous said...

Oh I love me some pumpkin cheesecake! save me a piece...

Sarah said...

Congrats on a great finish!!!

Have a great day today! I want a picture of the pumpkin cheesecake and the recipe!! :)

RunMommyRun said...

I love pumpkin cheesecake! Maybe I need to make one today... :)

Was fun to see you yesterday! And yeah, you weren't wrong in your description of that hill. Yikes!!

Anonymous said...

Running through an apple orchard sounds like the perfect fall run! Great job.

Erika said...

NIce job on the race! I really wanted to run that race, but we ended up not heading up to MN for my cousin's wedding.

Glad you had a good time!

MCM Mama

Marlene said...

Congrats on the 5 miler! Sounds like a fun fall event. Mmmm, cheesecake.....

Marlene said...

Congrats on the 5 miler! Sounds like a fun fall event. Mmmm, cheesecake.....

joyRuN said...

Woohoo! Kicking butt at a 5-mile race then letting your domestic diva shine through :)

My inner domestic diva seems to have gone into hibernation.

I Run for Fun said...

Great job! That's an awesome 5-miler! Yumm...cornbread and pumpkin cheesecake!

Mel-2nd Chances said...

Yum! Cheesecake! Great job on the 5-miler!

Jess said...

Awesoem job on the 5 miler! I covet your speed!

MaryBeth said...

I am running this race on Saturday and am really looking forward to it!