First and foremost - I apologize for the delay in the recap - it's been a busy week.
Last Saturday, we awoke before the birdies to do something that usually only hungover co-eds think to be a normal activity. It was a cold morning, but the weather was holding up - they had been calling for freezing rain/ice/snow the days leading up to the race. We got parked in the parking deck and set off for the belltower, passing our old dorm and many crazies in their costumes. Once we arrived at the belltower, Chris and I took off (all bundled up) to do a warmup jog and stretch. We arrived back at the start line about 15 minutes before the start and found a nook in the crowd of 6,000 that was somewhat close to the front. A minute before the start, the snow flurries started, only contributing to the hushed excitement at the start line. Chris was stripped down to his fantastic costume at this point and was getting plenty of looks. (I'm sure they were all positive ones - many were taking pictures). Fortunately, with all the closely-packed bodies waiting for the race, there was plenty of body heat to go around.
The gun sounded and the crowd tip-toed forward, much like a game of bumper cars. What I hadn't realized is that not even 20 yards from the start line was a round-a-bout under construction that split the course. I honestly would call the next 100 yards "extreme racing". There were random curbs, traffic cones, traffic barrels, potholes...you name it, it was there. And with 6,000 people packed in, there was little advanced notice before someone dodge a traffic barrel leaving you a split second to save yourself or careen into it. Fortunately, I found a more open spot in the crowd and was able to dodge all aforementioned items. (I did hear however, that the group of 6 guys in full body suits where leap-frogging the traffic barrels - wish I had seen that!). I could tell my form was good as I took off, picking off one person at a time. The air was cold, but I was feeling strong and enjoying the brisk pace I settled into. The majority of the course to Krispy Kreme was flat or downhill, and knowing my belly would be less-than-empty on the return, I pushed this first leg.
I rolled into the Krispy Kreme shoot at about 17:30 (7:30 pace!). It took me about a minute/minute and a half to find the water and walk through the crowded mess to squat and start making my donut stacks. I'll try to make narrate my thoughts during this stop:
- Grabbed three donuts (#1, #2, #3), smashed them together and proceeded to dunk them in the 2 cups of water I had
- Squeeze excess water and gobble
- 1st stack - piece of cake
- Oh crap! I meant to do 3 stacks of 4, not 4 stacks of 3!
- Smashed the next 4 donuts together (#4, #5, #6, #7)
- Dunk, squeeze, eat, repeat
- 2nd stack - no problemo!
- Smashed the next 4 donuts together (#8, #9, #10, #11)
- Tore stack in half, got 1/2 dunking while I ate the other 1/2 that had already been dunked
- Man, this last stack is getting tough
- Oh gross (note to self - don't look at sugary nasty donut water, definitely don't drink it - I drank the water at the Matt Gfeller 5k and it was a very bad idea)
- Finishing last 1/2 of last stack - oh HoLy! Small bites, small bites...
- Now what the heck am I going to do with this last one?
- Fold last donut in half and smash it to make a mini stack
- Started walking to the water station/exit shoot while eating the last donut (#12)
- Grabbed an extra cup of *clean* water, drank a few sips
- Tossed empty (!!!) box of donuts into the "Finished" stack and ran through the Challengers shoot to exit Krispy Kreme and get a chip time for the stop
(Chip time = 28:15 which means the donut stop was about 11 minutes, about 9:30 spent eating the donuts).
I rounded the corner out of Krispy Kreme and got into gear. I really wanted to run faster, but thought it best to reserve speed until the end seeing as I was unsure how these 12 doughnuts were sitting on my stomach - I felt full, but not sick).
I trekked on back, keeping an even pace and cresting hills. For me, the hills weren't very bad but I guess you can blame Winston-Salem on that - Raleigh is considerably flatter and so all the locals were puttering out on the hills. (And I must say that I enjoyed picking them off one by one as I passed them up the hill). I picked up the pace just a bit more when the "Finish" banner was in sight and crossed the finish line with a time of 48:19! This means that my second leg of the run (which was slightly longer than the first) was run at 8:11 pace for an average course pace of 7:47!!!! I'm thinking that a 5K is in order soon to see if I can get my PR down to that speed without a donut stop to rest. Chris finished in 41:44 - whew! Our friend Garrett got a fair amount of donuts down for his first race and Chris's sister Lori successfully completed her first race that day as well!
As I reflect on this race, I'm quite glad we did it - the charity was great (NC Children's Hospital), but the doughnuts were tough. I was the 17th female to complete the challenge and Chris finished in the top 10% of males too. However, I think I may forgo the doughnuts next year and run as a casual runner. As much fun as I was having that day, I really wanted to run a fast race - I just love getting out there and pushing it to my limits. Here are some pictures from the race:
Chris coming into the finish
Me near the start (in pink)
Another one of me during the "extreme racing" portion
Eating the donuts (on far left)
Me coming across the finish
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