Mid Winter Classic 10 Miler, in which I make it to the start on time.

After another good week of training, I was looking forward to the Mid Winter classic. The weather was looking promising, and I was not disappointed to be doing the majority of my long run in a "race" situation, with other people. Hooray for friends to share the struggle with!

Infamously, several years ago, I completely missed the start of this race due to poorly timed conclusion of my pre-race-miles.
Doing this once was fine, and pretty funny, and has gone down in history as one of my finer moments. However, I didn't want it to become a *thing*.
Hence, I hustled out for extra miles PRONTO, the moment Eric and I arrived in Cape Elizabeth. I ran 5 miles, I didn't even stop to pee (lines, SUCH lines for the potty!!), I took ZERO pics with the many friends I saw. But DAMNIT I made it to the start!!
(I regretted my no pee decision for the next 90 minutes.)

Proof: I made it to the start ON TIME!! #alreadywinning

At the start I met a super nice lady who reads my blog. I believe that makes 10 people who look forward to the junk I spew onto the internet. When she told me she was a reader I believe I apologized. I should probably stop doing that and START offering my autograph, or similar. Either way, I love meeting people and exchanging stories about random running things.*Hi Lauren!* (I think your name was Lauren...?) (I am confused because I had a conversation with a Lauren who I know. And then, new Lauren. So many people named Lauren.)

On to the excitement.
My plan was to use the actual race as an "energetic" training/long run. I was shooting for anything between an 8:40 and 9:00 pace. I felt pretty confident that I would be able to hit the faster pace, since the crowd is a great motivator. I was very strict with myself. There was to be NO racing, and no hitting some random/junk pace like 8:10's that would do nothing but to ruin the following week's training.

I started towards the back, in what we will call the *bodily functions* zone. A robust amount of spitting, snot rocketing, and loogie hocking was enjoyed by all. One guy was literally farting like a tuba, which made me laugh out loud (I am 10...)

The crowd thinned out a little (it's never too bad here) and I think I ran in the same group of people for the majority of the race. Not the farting guy, though. He, encumbered by endless gas, faded after the first hill.

Chugging along at mile 5 in my strangely clashing attire

I set my watch to keep "average" pace, and kept a closer eye than normal on the numbers. At the half way point, despite great restraint, my pace was just under 8:30's.
I mulled this over for a bit, knowing that any faster would clearly be a mistake. I evaluated my legs (feeling good) my breathing (relaxed) and my mental state (no more questionable than normal) and concluded that, as long as I did not go ONE second faster that all would be well.

From mile 5-6 was the only seriously miserable stretch of windy road. It was blowing something crazy, and I was quite happy to leave that ugly mile behind. It was really not too cold, but if the wind had maintained that intensity I would certainly have become exhausted. I also really had to pee at this point, and couldn't really find an appropriate place to drop trou and go for it.

Thankfully, the last couple miles actually had a vigorous tail wind, which was excellent. Push me to the finish, yo!!

The final stretch to the finish was full of wind and bullshit. Hello. WRONG.
However, the finish came up quick and I ran through it and straight to the bathroom because having to pee had become a crisis!! Coming in CODE YELLOW!!!

Happy to have made it through. Also, so neon.

My official finishing time was 1:23:43, an 8:23 pace (I swear my watch is jacked, it was showing me 8:30's with confidence!) I felt like I had run a long run (duh) but I was not exhausted, sick, or miserable. An 8:23 pace was dangerously close to junk mile zone, and I concluded that I would know the next day if I had made a critical error. 8:30 seemed ok, 8:23 seemed risky...
(The day after report is in: my pace was acceptable. I actually feel much better today than I did last week after 13. YAY!)

Eric came quickly along, as he ran swiftly and finished hot on my heels.
We had to skedaddle pretty much instantly, which meant that we didn't get to enjoy much socializing. It was still great to see our friends, even if it was brief!

Home we went. We ate much food, and watched the most insane Super Bowl in History.

I re-hydrated with two amazing beer choices.

TWO beers of the week!

HOLY crap, these are must have beers you guys!
Lord Hobo's DIPA is one of the best I have had, hoppy, juicy and it's a 9% so it is a sipper not a chugger.
To the right is Bissell's Angels with filthy souls, a limited release porter. It is super good (and this year's batch is far superior to last year's, in my opinion.) It's a little chocolatey, with a tiny hint of maple and coffee. Good stuff.

Anyway! Another week in the books and a good week it was.

Weekly stats:Miles run: 39
Longest run: 15
Other: Monday Chiropractic, 2 strength workouts.
Wildlife sightings: 12 turkeys, 1 pig, several horses, a donkey and the most ENORMOUS Great Dane EVER. Luckily, he is behind a fence and I don't need to sic the ladies from the town office on his unrestrained ass.
Low/High temps: 8/36. It was, overall, colder. One small storm. $100 more dollars spent on sanding.
How am I feeling? Good but poor because of all the sanding and my expensive beer habit.
Beer of the week: Lord Hobo Consolation Prize AND Bissell's Angels With Filthy Souls