Eerie Erie

When I was planning my fall, the Eerie Erie fun run was not on my radar. But when my coach and I talked about assessing my lactic threshold and finding a race, I saw this one. I had originally thought of doing the 5k but then saw they had a 10k option, too. So, what the heck, I signed up the the 10k and convinced Becky to do the same.

I actually didn't sign up until yesterday. When it snows 23" inches you have to use the wait and see approach. But things melted pretty well on Friday and the sidewalk and roads cleared up. We had a cool but clear (and ice free) morning.

My one beef with this race (and all "fun" runs) are the lack of timing chips. I suppose triathlons have made me spoiled, but I hate not having an accurate time. And this run was so disorganized that we didn't even hear a count down or a gun, people just started running. I was still waiting for my Garmin to find the satellites so I waited a touch more and then decided just to go. I'm guessing my time and the official time are going to be about 45 seconds off.

I ran easy the first two miles and then there was a long hill that was impossible to do at a low heart rate. The course was hilly between miles 2.5-4 and then it was downhill or flat. I really pushed myself the last 2 miles and was happy to see my official clock time was 28:xx and my watch time was 57:25. My goal today was under an hour, though I was hoping to go faster. This race was 3 minutes faster than my Bolder Boulder this year and over 2 minutes faster than any 10k for a PR. Yay!

Becky and Me (No, we did not wear costumes, though lots of other people did. Good for them. I don't like running enough to make it even more uncomfortable.)



My fabulous running assemble. The skirt was to cover my butt in tights. I wish more people had worn skirts.



Becky (who also wore a skirt and tights). See all the snow that was still on the ground?