CHILL IN THE HILLS

Jay and I ran the Chill in the Hills 10K this morning (while Cari, Mike, Jacob, and Bridger graciously watched the kiddos for us) and had a great race! Temps were in the 70s (so, not so chilly), a bunch of our friends were there (Al, Ashley, Dave, Jim, Kristi, and a few of our buddies from spin class and some other folks we've grown to know, small town living and whatnot), and we got free pizza and awesome beer afterward (Lucky Town Brewery!), so it was especially fun. The race course was a bit hillier than I expected (I know, it's called Chill in the HILLS) based on the map they provided (mile 5 was TOUGH!), but I had a pacer (Dave!) that helped me stay on (or below) target, with enough wiggle room to walk some of that big hill. My goal was to finish in under an hour, so I was aiming for a 9:30/mile pace or better. We did so, for all but mile 6 (the big hill started right at mile 5), and I ran that last mile with everything I had left (my pace for that last 0.2 mile is off because I forgot to turn off my Garmin until I had already walked over to the refreshment table and filled 2 cups of Gatorade - oops).

Dave, Jim, and Jay at the starting line.

Enjoying our post-race Lucky Town Belgian Pale Ale!

My official time was listed as 57:53 (unofficial Garmin time of 57:39, clocking it until the point where I stopped moving) and I somehow managed to get 2nd place in my age group (probably because many of the speedy girls weren't racing today, due to the Mississippi Blues Marathon being last weekend). And it was a small race (I placed 67 out of 155 total runners). I don't care though, I'll take it! I came in 11 minutes behind my buddy Ashley and got to take home a cool chili bowl in place of a medal, and I beat my previous (and only!) 10K time by over 8 minutes!

Jay also ran a good race today (as did Al, Jim, and Dave), though their age group is equally difficult to place in (if not more so). He ran his first 10K ever and beat my first 10K time by almost 4 minutes. I know he wanted to break an hour, but there's always next time, and I'm super proud of him for pushing through for this time, especially running solo on a much hotter than anticipated day! We're getting really excited about our upcoming half marathon and plan to run it side-by-side, wearing kilts!