Cherry Pit 10 Mile race recap

This morning started out extra early. I had my alarm set for 5:40am, but at 3:30ish Faith was wailing in her crib because she thought one of her toys had fallen out of her crib...oh, and she pulled her diaper down. That's her new favorite thing to do in the middle of the night. Once I re-diapered her and calmed her down (I guess she dreamed that one of her toys fell out?), she decided to have a party in her crib for almost an hour with bouncing and giggling. I never got back to sleep, so I just got up early to get ready for the race.

I had a bagel on the drive to Annapolis for the race and I found the school with no problem. I was surprised that it was so packed because I was expecting to be like the metric marathon I ran last fall since it was the same running club, but this race was like 400 people. Alyssa was meeting me at the race, but she got lost trying to find the school. I ended up jogging down to the corner and standing there to flag down her car so she wouldn't drive past the school again for the 34th time. It must have been the trees around the school that confused her, as I hear they don't have those in Baltimore.

I'm watching everyone run to the start while I wait for Alyssa

I luckily already had Alyssa's bib for her because she ended up pulling up with 10 minutes until start time, so we just booked it over to the start area. We lined up toward the back because everyone in front looked faster than us and then the race started right on time. It started on an uphill and I lost Alyssa right from the beginning.  We had already pre-planned not running together, so it was no big deal.

I trucked along at a pace that felt easy enough to have a conversation, but I wasn't running with anyone so I had to constantly test it by talking to strangers. Luckily this race was full of friendly people and I even ran into a girl from my running club and we hung out for a couple of miles. The race course was pretty fun and involved lots of rolling hills and running past farms and mansions.

I stopped at one water stop to remove my pullover because I couldn't manage to do it while running and holding my handheld water bottle and after that I walked through each one and drank water (since my handheld had Gatorade). In the latter sections of the race I also walked several of the steeper hills, yet I still stayed with the same group of people and just leap frogged with them. One old guy even heckled me for walking since he said "You shouldn't be walking, you're younger than me!" and I responded "I'm still going to beat you" and then I did. Score one for my maturity.

The course ended on a gradual uphill, but it wasn't too bad especially since Alyssa and other running club people were waiting and cheering. I did an asshole thing and passed a chick at the last minute, but that serves her right for not pushing it until the end. I know it's not really "asshole-ish" to pass someone in a race, but when it's right before the finish line at a manually timed race, it feels like cutting in line.

I finished in 1:34:12 which is a 9:25 average and after I found Alyssa we went inside the school and grabbed some pretzels for me and then posed for a picture:

This is like take #7 because I can't smile on cue

We also stayed to see the awards because some of my running club friends won awards. The third place winner in every age group won a 12 pack of Cherry Coke cans (because it was the Cherry Pit race), which I thought was a really fun prize. Next year, next year.

Sweet cooooooooke

After we were done at the race, Alyssa and I went to Panera and I got the most normal thing for 10:40am...macaroni and cheese with a baguette. I always say I like my carbs with a side of carbs.

Perfectly normal second breakfast

Alyssa left to go meet other people for a 30 mile bike ride (bitch be crazy) and I drove home like a normal person. It's a long drive to get to Annapolis for races, but it's such a fun area to run that it's worth it to me. I did wish I had a chauffeur so I could have napped on the way home, but I keep forgetting to buy my lottery tickets so I can afford that.

If you've been a reader of my blog for any period of time, this recap may have left you with a few questions, like:

• WTF? She WALKED in a TEN mile race?
• Why did Alyssa ditch her? They always race together!
• 1:34?? Doesn't she run faster than that during training runs?
• Is she injured or sick or just lazy?

I can answer all of your questions with one picture:

I've let myself go