Race Coverage

Worth the Puke & Unhappy Hammies...

Wednesday, 23 March 2016 01:10

By Erin Klegstad (sweetsweatlife.com)

Only in Minnesota do you wake up to two inches of fresh snow on race morning. I’d been stalking the weather all week, but nowhere did it say it would be measurable!  ...

For the second year, the Hot Dash 10 Mile has been my season opener. My race strategy – aside from having fun… no point if you’re not! – was to run, hard, to see where my fitness was at. When coach told me my target pace… yikes. It made me equally really excited and throw up a little bit.

Nick and I arrived in northeast Minneapolis about an hour prior to the 9:12a start so I could pick up my bib and he could get his 10-mile run done (he’s running Grandma’s in June!) and still see me on the Stone Arch Bridge about a half-mile from the finish. After check-in, I ran into a few friends, checked my down jacket and did a quick warm-up. With about five minutes ’til go, I lined up at the 7:00 mile pace sign, ready to redline for 70 minutes.

The horn sounded, and we were off. There weren’t too many people to weave around, but man, did folks take off fast. My first mile beeped in at 6:46, and while I told myself to keep it in check until mile five, I was pleasantly surprised at how great my legs felt (on zero rest going into this race). Around mile 2.5, I saw the glow of Nick’s neon yellow jacket running toward me, so I hollered at him to take my jacket… I knew I’d overdressed!   READ MORE