The Steamboat Classic

So yesterday I ran in the Steamboat Classic in Peoria. There are 2 races: the 4 mile and the 15k. I chose to run in the 15k. The night before I got pretty nervous....I even had trouble sleeping! I was driving to Peoria by myself in the morning; my attempts to get a few friends to come with to run in the 4 mile event (since I knew none of them would want to run in the 15k!) was fruitless, unfortunately. And, Jeremy was scheduled to work so he was unable to go along. So, I was worried that I would wake up late, would be late to the race, would have a hard time finding where to go, have difficulty finding a parking place, etc., etc. Well, I successfully woke up at 5am, was in my car by 5:20am, stopped in Morton at a gas station for a potty break ( ;) ), and arrived at a parking garage off of Hamilton Avenue in Peoria around 6:20 am. The race started at 7am, so I was golden!

The next dillemna I faced was deciding whether or not to use Jeremy's iPod that I had borrowed for the day (I don't have my own iPod...I know, get with the times, right?! Even my father owns an iPod! ;)). The information I had gotten the day before when I piked up my race packet clearly stated that no portable music devices with headphones were allowed. Well, the thought of running 9.3 miles without the distraction that music could bring me just wasn't very appealing. Call me a wimp....whatever ;). I don't do my long training runs with an iPod, I only use the iPod during races. However, I reallyreally like doing so (I ran the half marathon with Jeremy's iPod in April, and also the Lake Run..a 12k at Lake Bloomington)...so I sat in my car for a while and scoped people out to see if people were wearing iPods and the like. Since I only saw ONE woman wearing one, I decided to leave Jeremy's in my trunk :(. I then ventured out to find the starting line. As I was walking, though, I noticed that there were indeed many people wearing iPods! So, I decided to go back to my car and get Jeremy's....rules or no rules, I decided that my comfort was more important ;). I will say, though, I listened at a low volume and often ran with only one ear bud in an ear so that I was still aware of what was going on around me and all that jazz.

The race was a lot of fun, really! The route was great and I will definitely try to do it again next year. It was HARD, though, too! There were some crazy hills...both up and down...that were strenuous (I saw a lot of people walking at these points!). I am so glad I did it, though!

I got 443 out of 726 overall, 19th out of 39 in my division (Female 25-29) and a time of 1:23:57. My 10 k time was 58:23 and my last 5k was run in 26:40. This all breaks down to an average pace of 9:08/mile....not too wonderful...but also not terrible! I was below the average time of 1:21:25. All in all, though, I am satisfied with my performace. Next year will be even better! :) And, I can't honestly imagine having done much better; I think I did the best I can do. I was unbelievably dead last night and am SO sore today! Honestly, I feel even worse than I did after the half marathon I ran in April! I am sure that it has to do with the fact that it was COLD in April and pretty hot yesterday. I am definitely not so used to running outside in the heat. I need to get better at that!

I will take this time to re-iterate my ongoing BEEF with post-race "parties". It totally stinks to NOT be able to eat anything (or much, anyway!) that is available due to my silly gluten intolerance. Seriously, there are bagels and cookies, etc. GALORE (and beer of course ;)) after races....sometimes even PIZZA (like at the half marathon in Champaign last April)....talk about tempting! I made due with a bottle of water and an apple yesterday. It stinks, though. Maybe someday huge GF muffins or something will be available after road races! That would be INCREDIBLE!

Off to have a productive Sunday. I think I'll let myself take the day off of training ;). My body probably needs some rest! :)

112 days and counting...Chicago, here I come!!!