Race #1 of the year, Chi-Town Big Game 10K

I have to recap my first race of the year before I forget all about it.  Yesterday was definitely one of those days.  Sick kids = crabby/whiny kids, so nothing seemed to really get accomplished yesterday and by the end of the day, I was DONE, so sorry for the lack of post.  I needed time to sit on the couch and relax!

Anyways, back to the race.  The forecast, oh a balmy 14 degrees, with wind, and light flurries.  Now, you may think this sounds terrible, but I actually think I have turned a corner with my running when I say this--it was beautiful and I loved it.  Don't get me wrong, miles 3-4 seemed pretty long, but overall, I didn't mind running in the weather at all and numerous times told myself how awesome it was.  I know--CRAZY!!!

As you know, I don't really run for a time so much, but I definitely finished in the 1:06 area which is pretty consistent with my 11 minute mile. I really should get myself a Garmin so I can track my distance and time, and how cute is this pink and white one, so if anyone wants to send me gifts, this would be a good one :) Like I said, I am by no means fast, but I can feel myself getting stronger with each race I run (and enjoying it a little bit more) so I consider it a success and can't wait for my next run in a couple of weeks.  Hopefully the weather will be a little bit nicer, fingers crossed. The one thing I just don't know if I can do is running in rain.  That just still really doesn't sound like fun to me. 

Overall, I thought that the race was fun, really well run by the orgainzers, and they had hot dogs and beer when you finished so what's not to like. 

Start of the race!

And the finish--still smiling, so that's always a good sign right!

Ok, I actually did look up my official race time which was 1:06:25 which was a 10:42 mile pace.  Not too bad considering I was running on snow for a period of time and I am still trying to figure out this whole fueling while running thing.  I definitely needed to fuel earlier.  Lessons learned for #2 of 2013, right?  Next up, the Wacky 10K on March 3rd.