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.