Live With No Regrets

Cross Knox 10 Miler Recap

Let me just start off by saying, ALWAYS wake up and check the forecast before you head out to run. Don’t just rely on the forecast from the night before. You will ensure you are adequately dressed for the weather.

Needless to say, I did not heed this advice. The forecast at 10 p.m. last night said today would be in the mid 50s and a 30% chance of storms. I left the house at 7 a.m. and it was already in the mid 50s. I wore a short sleeve tech shirt and capris. I really needed a long sleeved shirt for this race because as I was driving to the race site, the sky fell…

Pictures and more behind the break.

The only warm weather gear in my car was a zip up hoodie and my running gloves. I donned those, but I knew the sweatshirt was destined for bad things. It was going to soak up water like a sponge. Oh well, it was the best I could do.

(I don’t have any clue what kind of face this is supposed to be. This is me before the race and my hoodie was already partially soaked.)

I got to the start of the race and huddled with fellow runners under the tent until they were ready for us to line up. Once we were lined up, the port-a-potties that were supposed to be at the start of the race finally showed up. The race director said they were supposed to be in place by 5 p.m. yesterday, but they showed up about two minutes before the gun sounded. You could hear a unified groan through the crowd as the truck pulled up.

The first few miles flew by pretty easily. My pace was much faster than I anticipated for the first two miles. I forced myself to slow down so I didn’t injure myself or drain myself too quickly. I stayed with the pace of the majority of the crowd for the first two miles, then slowed my pace down slightly.

Around mile three, I honestly couldn’t take the soaked hoodie any longer. It was weighing me down. I tossed it off to the side of the road, and hoped it would still be there after the race. Sadly, I later realized my gloves were also in the wet jacket. About mile 6 or 7, I really wanted those gloves. My hands were frozen and the rain picked up again. My arms were cold and I was getting grumpy. My shoes were soaked and I had to stop to re-tie my laces to keep my shoes from falling off.

But, despite the nasty weather and 1/2 frozen body, I managed to PR this race. 1:57:37 is the approximate time from my Garmin. I forgot to stop it until about a minute after I crossed the finish line. I guesstimated this time because I have a huge drop in pace there when I stopped for the race volunteers to take my timing chip off my shoe. (This is a new one on me. It was attached with bread ties?)

Post race, we all huddled together under a tent to wait for the bus to take us back to the start. The bus ride was…warm. This sounds like a good thing, until you consider that the bus was filled with about 40-60 runners who had just completed 10 miles in the rain. We were wet and stinky.

All in all, this was a pretty good race. I was beginning to rethink my life choices during the run, but I am glad I did it. It was definitely a character building experience.