One of these days I’ll check the race description/elevation chart BEFORE I sign up. I’m beginning to feel like I’m not on just a 50 states quest, but rather a quest to find all the hills along the way.
The Good:
- Muscatine, Iowa is a really cool small town. The boys got to play at an awesome little park the night before the race.
- In its 35th year, the Watermelon Stampede was really well organized. First rule of the race? Double tie your shoe laces. Second Rule? No one under 14 in the first three rows. Loved it!
- The weather was perfect.
- I finished in 58:13, my fastest 10k in a while.
- Randomly running into a fellow member of Team Tough Chik.
- On the drive home, we got to stop at a brewpub and brewery museum for lunch.
The Bad:
- The first mile and a half was mostly uphill. I held my goal pace, but it felt REALLY hard.
- I left my Amphipod water bottle on the plane, so I had to rely on water stops and I really could have used nuun on the run.
- I ran a huge amount of the race stuck behind a woman who was playing awful music way too loud. I didn’t manage to pass her until mile 5. Bleh.
- Only the fast kids ran the 10k, so there were only a few people behind me and I was last in my age group.
The Ugly:
- I spent the entire race wondering if I was going to throw up. My stomach felt off and Shoo had had the stomach flu the day before, so I was a bit worried I was coming down with it.
- Being stuck in the third row of my parents’ minivan with both my boys when they both decided they’d had enough travel for the day. Oy.
The Bizarre:
- The Grotto. I have no words.
Don’t forget to enter my NatureBox giveaway! You still have a few days!
you so so so RUN’spire me.
Yargh! I absolutely hate hills…probably because I have none to train on. And the grotto. Yes, that is a bit freaky.
Way to make it through! Sorry about the tummy troubles, no fun:( I hate hills too, so you are awesome for pushing yourself!
Congrats on another great race!!!!
That must’ve been a fast crew if you ran that time and came in last in your AG!
Nice job on a tough race, and for scoring another state!
That grotto is just freaky!
Great job on your race despite the uneasy stomach and hills – you know how I feel about hills 🙂
Is the grotto meant to scare you into Christianity or away from it. Either way it would probably feature in my really bad dreams.
Great job, and 21 states is impressive! I hate the going fast and feeling like I want to throw up thing…no fun at all. Hopefully you weren’t really sick from the flu. Way to finish it!