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This morning I ran in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 10K in Chicago! I ran this same race last year, and it was my first race ever! Although I had made my goal of under an hour, it was a rough race for me last year – I don’t think I was completely prepared!
One thing that I love about the race is that it’s in downtown Chicago, with the start and finish in Grant Park! So cool to run with the city on side, and the beautiful lake on the other!
The race had about 10,000 participants, so there was quite a crowd! It didn’t feel like it though running, I think most people were doing the 5K or the walk, or just supporting everyone! Since it’s for breast cancer research, there were a lot of people there just to be a part of the event and raise money. I couldn’t help but grin when I saw the Port-A-Potties!
I ran the race with my cousin Allie. She’s quite the runner, with half and full marathons under her belt! It was great to have someone there with me, especially since I was pretty nervous! It was very cold and after staying at my brother’s and having to take care of Molly in the morning, I was a little thrown off my normal pre-run mind-set. I was just glad it wasn’t raining before the race started, that held off until about mile 4!
Like her shirt? She told me she wore that when she ran New York so her parents could find her! Apparently she wasn’t the only one with that idea… The grassy area in Grant Park, where all the tents were set up, got very muddy because of the rain! While attempting to get all my food swag (don’t even pretend you don’t do this too), my shoes got very muddy!
But I managed to get away with 2 bananas, wheat thins, string cheese, some kind of jello thing, 2 bags and half a bagel! Haha, I told Allie I wouldn’t have to go to the grocery store today!
I had to run back to my brother’s to let Molly out and grab my stuff, and then I headed straight home to shower and warm up! I was so cold after my shower that I was walking around with a scarf and TWO sweatshirts on!
I headed back to see Molly and after feeding her lunch, we went on a nice long walk! She kept trying to eat goose poop, so I had to pull her away. After quite a bit of this she finally sat down and pouted at me. Come on Molly, it’s for your own good!
But no worries, she found a great stick instead! She also made plenty of friends; people always love to stop and pet her and she loves the attention! Now it’s time for Molly and I to have a relaxing afternoon… with a little reading for school thrown in.
Oh I almost forgot, I finished the race in under 53 minutes! I’m not sure of my actual time, but that’s definitely a personal record! I was really pumped about it! Races definitely make me push myself a lot harder, especially this one because there was a long narrow area where it was hard to pass, so I kept sprinting around people whenever I could!
Do you ever get freaked out when you’re about to run a race? Or any other activity that you’ve been preparing for?
