Race Recap: Ukrop's Monument Av 10K Race Part 2

I've been so crazy busy since I got back from my first 10K race in Richmond.  Heaven knows how far behind I am from everything:  my Sarah B. workouts, updating my Dailymile posts, sending thank yous to my donors, spring cleaning around the house, and "medical-to-do" lists for everyone here.  It seems like the one thing I am on track and on the ball with is my running.  Go figure!  Ok, I want to make sure I posted my Race Recap Part 2 (and now Part 3!) before May while the memory of it is still fresh, so here it goes (Race Recap Part 1 is HERE).

My mom!

Did I mention that my sister makes a mean spaghetti sauce?  She and I learned from the best, of course - my mom!  Secret ingredient is a light dusting of sugar!  YUM.  After carbo-loading like crazy, I wasn't ready to hit the sack just yet.  I didn't have enough time at home to write on my shirt all the names my donors sent me  who are/were touched by cancer.  I had to get my sister's help on this.  Her handwriting is much better and more straight!

My sister writes like a type-writer!  You can tell which name I wrote - but it is the most special one to me.  :)

I really liked how it turned out.  I wanted the names on my Massey shirt to be permanent so that I can remember who I ran for that day.

I laid out my running outfit, pinned my race bib on and attached my D-tag on my shoe.  I went through my pre-race ritual of laying everything out from undergarments, outfit, my chick hat, cell phone, pre-race snack & water.  I'm so obsessive!  I'm the type of person who just wants to get up early for a race, look at what I have to do/put on and just do it, without having to remember or think.  LOL.  I'm not a morning person, so this pre-race ritual is crucial.

Once I got everything set and ready for tomorrow morning, I was ready to hit the sack.  So tired!  I usually read before bed so I grabbed Bart Yasso's My Life On the Run - the autographed book I got at the Expo.  BIG MISTAKE.  The book was too interesting I couldn't put it down, and it got me way too excited about race day.  I should have picked up a boring book from home to read!  Ugh.  It was so frustrating to say the least.  My body was exhausted but my mind was too worked up to feel sleepy.  Why does this happen to me every night before a race?

Last time I looked at my cell phone it was 2:24am.  I kept dreaming about things that could go wrong the morning of the race, like my yellow running skirt coming out in shreds or forgetting this and that.  It was the most unsettling night before a race I've had yet!  I have no idea why I was feeling all jittery knowing full well I can't run the whole course!  I shouldn't feel anxious, yet I am!  Ack!

I woke up to my alarm 3 freaking hours later.  Ugh.  Adrenaline kicked in as usual.  Did my PT exercises to loosen up, then hit the showers to wake up and got ready in no time.  My college friends came over on the dot.  I hardly had anything to eat yet so I scarfed down my oatmeal and packed bananas, snacks and gummy bears.  We knew that parking would be a pain, so we headed down to Monroe Park.


It was a very chilly morning!  I layered with long pants and a jacket.  We lucked out and got street parking 2 blocks from Monroe Park.  It occurred to me that I have no clue where the start and finish lines are.  Did not study the course map.  Guess I prefer surprises, or you can say that it's best when I don't know how many more miles I have to go.  lol.

We decided to attend the "Blessing of the Runners" at the Sacred Heart Cathedral off of Monroe Park.  It was kinda cool to see runners dressed in running gear, some in costume, inside the church.  I find out days later from pics taken during the event that the priest was wearing Vibram Five Fingers underneath his robe.  The priest is a runner too!  Yeah!  I prayed that I won't kill myself on the course given that my last long run of 5 miles was 2 weeks before.  I just want to finish even if I have to walk the whole course.

We had to meander our way around Monroe Park a bit.  The line to the bag check-in was ridiculous.  My awesome sister offered to take our stuff back to the car.  We went ahead and registered our team's costume - "Chick Magnet."

 
We paled in comparison to the other costumes there.  These guys were great!  I didn't see how in the world you can run in those costumes, but they looked like they were having a blast.

One of my favorite group costumes!

Another favorite!

The hour before our wave start was excruciating.  At this point I just wanted to get it over with and go back to bed.  It was still cold out so we stayed inside the church.  A little weird to see other runners stretch/snack inside the church, but no one kicked us out, no one seemed to give us that "you shouldn't do that in church" look, so we stayed until it was time to go.

Race Recap:  Ukrop's Monument Av 10K Race Part 3 - The Race - coming soon.