Fort2Fort 10K Weekend 2011

We “slummed” it Friday night for dinner.  No gourmet restaurant for us.  We wanted family, relaxed yet good food.

We enjoy the bar area at Uno’s and the food isn’t too bad, with a lot of options.

For starters, a Mediterranean pizza

It was so good, I could have eaten 2 or 3 slices because the crust was thin.  But there was a race to run the next day and over stuffing my belly wasn’t a good idea.

Garden Salad was a must.  It was crisp and fresh.  I tried the fat free blueberry pomegranate dressing with blue cheese crumbles on the side.  A new favorite!

Dinner had to be fish.  My pre-race ritual which is usually a light white fish such as haddock.  This particular option was baked haddock in a light cracker crust with sides of broccoli and rice pilaf.

I have to admit, I did have 1 1/2 glasses of a Hess Chardonnay.  I planned on 1 glass but Ted knocked the first glass over and we got a full freebie.  Can’t go with out my wine and if it’s free, it always tastes better, kind of like stolen apples.      A good bold cup of coffee followed dinner then the movie

It was a little slow but the ending was good.  I enjoy watching Jennifer Anniston.  Justin Bateman wasn’t too bad either.  Jeff Goldblum was pretty funny as well.   Then to bed at 10:30 pm.  I slept SO good. I even slept through the 3 AM “episode” of Shane having to go out and Ted getting up to take him.  That’s not normal.  I usually wake up at the drop of a hat.  Saturday was going to be a good day – it was a perfect set up to SUCCESS!

SATURDAY – Confidence Building Results

Oh happy day!  A warm up run with Shane for 2 miles had me wondering how Saturday’s 10K race would go.  As I trotted along, my hamstring was bugging me. It had been fine all week. Why today?! There was an hour to spare before we left for Rome, NY so I stretched and massaged and tried to calm that aching muscle down. 

We left for the race at 8 am.  The three of us were running: Ted, Teddy, and myself.  The day was cold, a bit breezy but by race time at 9 am, the sun was shining. Turned out to be perfect running weather. 

I didn’t think I was any where near as nervous as I usually get for a race which didn’t make sense because I really wanted to run well.  After all, this was my last fast paced race until Boston on April 18th.   However, my last trip to the bathroom proved I WAS nervous since my left leg was shaking uncontrollably.  That’s my nervous “twitch” before a race.  Weird, but it’s me.

There was a great turnout and all runners, 5K and 10K started together.  It was a new start from previous years. We began at Rome High School and went just under a mile down the hill before the 5K and 10K split.  Everyone was THRILLED with the new venue.  It was accommodating and a good course.  The sunshine made it all that much better. 

The first 2 miles were tough for me as usual.  I start out wondering.. how will I ever finish the race, why did I sign up in the first place, can’t wait until it’s over…. yadda, yadda, yadda.   Everytime!  It’s not until about 2 1/2 to 3 miles when I start to get a rhythm, feel good and build speed.  I never saw Teddy on the course but did see Ted as he turned in towards the Fort as I was running away along the road.

Coming into mile 5 I felt good.  I was pushing it a bit and couldn’t wait to finish this thing.  I kept thinking we would finish on a down hill since I THOUGHT I knew the route.  Not so.  We had to finish up hill.  It was a great finish in spite of slowing for the hill and….. A  10K PR FOR ME!!!!

47:14 was the clock time.  7:37 pace.  AND…. I got 1st Place in My Age Group!  

But the fun didn’t end there.   We high tailed it home, made some quick egg omelets then took off to meet Angela, the new baby Alyssa, Nicholas, and Teddy for the ventriloquist act at Munson Williams Proctor Arts Institute. 

It was a GREAT show but unfortunately Nicholas was a bit too young for it.  He did however, enjoy playing on the fold up theater seats.

Super – duper Saturday!  The 10K race built some confidence going into Boston.  I know I can’t hold that pace in a marathon but ZOWY!  That was a good run for me.