Securian Winter Carnival 10K Race Report and BIG Announcement

I had hoped to be able to do the half marathon this year - when I signed up for their half a couple of years ago, it was so cold that day that they shortened it to a 1/4 marathon. My sister Annie was being officially inducted into her nursing program early in the afternoon, though, and some quick math when we contemplated signing up revealed that Steve had time to run the half, but we'd never make it to LaCrosse in time if I ran it too. Fortunately, this year they added a 10K to their annual scheduled 5K and half.

Steve and I got to the race around 40 minutes before the half start and quickly saw people we recognized. We snapped this photo before we got too distracted...

Our BIG announcement!

I joked that this way people passing me wouldn't feel too good about themselves :)

Yep, that's what you think. We're due in June! This would be Baby's 3rd road race. (I ran Twin Cities Marathon the day before we found out then had a brief freak-out the next morning. I ran the Polar Dash a few weeks ago in a time that wasn't worth posting - see below.) We made our way to the porta-potties to stand in line, a must for me these days. Afterward, I smooched Steve, wished him luck, and headed back inside for a few seconds to warm up since his race started 5 min before mine.

Inside, I ran into Steve Q who was sporting a shirt from the early 80s when this race was a full marathon. I showed him my shirt, thanked him again for the fudge he gave us at Dome Running a couple of weeks ago, and made my way through the building. As I passed one woman, she said to me, "Oh! I just read your shirt! I just found out I'm pregnant this morning... It was sort of unexpected..."

"Congratulations!" I said with a big smile.

"So...so you can still do all of this?" She asked with tears forming in her eyes.

"Sure!" I replied, "I found out the day after I ran a marathon. You just have to take it easy." I congratulated her again, gave her a warm pat on the shoulder, and made my way out the door.

I saw the start of the half marathon but somehow missed Steve. Five minutes later, the 10K started. I lined up toward the back knowing I wasn't out to win the race. The goal was the same as my 10K a few weeks ago - keep it comfortable. My pace has become embarrassingly slow in the last few months, but running still feels good.

"When are you due?" a voice beside me asked about a half mile in.

"June 11th," I replied, and with that, I made my first friend of the day. It turned out that my new friend's name is Drew, and he's also a triathlete. We chatted about our race schedules and our favorite races as we ran through downtown St. Paul. When we passed mile 1, I realized I'd forgotten to start my watch. Drew said he had about 11 minutes for time - right on track for my recent pace. As we made our way toward the river, I was really sad to have to let Dru go, but I figured it was a good time to take advantage of a porta potty (BTW, they were EVERYWHERE on the course - a pregnant lady's dream). With my bathroom stop, miles 2 and 3 took me 23:40. Keeping my conversational pace, I cheered in all of the 10K runners who had already hit the turnaround. Around mile 4, I caught up with an older gentleman. "How are you feeling?" I asked.

"Oh, not bad for an old guy," he joked, and that's when I made my second friend for the day. His name is Jerry Stamm. Jerry and I spent the next mile and a half sharing running stories. He's 66 years old and got into running in 1983. He ran his first marathon when he was 50 years old. Jerry's pace was just a hair slower than mine, but I was having so much fun talking to him that I didn't care. Miles 4 and 5 ticked by in 22:50. With about 3/4 mile left, I told Jerry that I was going to pick it up a little, and he told me to go on ahead. With just a few block left, I heard a "Hi hun!" and turned to see Steve passing me. I had joked that with a few minutes' head start, he could beat me to the finish line, but I didn't really think it would happen. It turns out that their half marathon was 1.4 miles short secondary to a volunteer having them turn around early.

Steve passing me with just a few blocks left

I hit the finish line feeling like I could have easily run another 6 miles. I had a huge smile on my face and Steve caught it in picture.

All smiles after 6.2 miles!

My last 1.2 miles took me 12:02 for a total time of 1:09:26 - a minute faster than my race 4 weeks ago and a new pregnant PR! I saw Jerry a few minutes later and thanked him for a great run. Steve and I said goodbye to Nicole, his running partner for his race, and booked it to our car.

Steve was a little bummed that his race was short but wasn't too broken up about it. We both agreed that had it been and "A" race for either of us, we would have been pretty upset. The 10K was great - I loved the combination of running by the parks and downtown and getting to see the river too. They had plenty of bathrooms and water, and we had beautiful January weather.

We made it to Annie's ceremony a few minutes late but with plenty of time to make her smile up on stage. We snapped this pic after her ceremony:

The Linder Kids - Matt, Me, Annie, Steph, and Mike

Then we ate a tasty, tasty supper. Thanks Mom and Dad for treating us!

More on being preggo in an upcoming post. For now, happy training, everyone!