TC 10K

Everything is coming together nicely, to put it plainly! Jen & I headed down to the Saint Paul River Centre on Friday evening check out the TCM Health and Fitness Expo while grabbing my race packet too. We saw local industry reps familiar to us thru the DRC and athletes likewise. The facility is modern and brightly painted in comparison to our DECC. However, I wouldn't say that their arrangement is any better than G-ma's. Picked up a Papa Murphy's pizza on the way to my folks and I was golden.

Game day prep began a little uneasy as I had to research where I'd find espresso @ 5AM. I kid you not, THIS GUY WILL NOT TAKE THE START LINE W/O IT!!! Not to my surprise, Caribou opens their doors early, whew..... Conditions were perfect in the upper 30's for when the horn failed to sound because it froze. I've never competed in any of the events on this weekend but I definitely will be doing the marathon some year after leaving w/a good buzz from the atmosphere. Hearing the announcer say 2,000+ registrants was exciting and I wound recommend it to anybody. Our course was an out-n-back from the state capital. The almost mile long climb up and around the cathedral to Summit Avenue was a great way to get the ball rolling for me. First mile passed in 6:07 which is exactly where I needed to be in order to have any chance at progressing. Turned out, my race would go according to plans as I reached the 5K turnaround @ 18:41 and the return trip came faster yet. Crossing the mats in 37:00 gave me great negative splits and a bewildered sensation over the fact that my training doesn't warrant such a result. I rode my MTB and 'cross bikes near 17 hours during the week but the stale heaviness went away. I finished 5th dude overall and had to gather an arms full of snacks from the tables before leaving to shop for my nephew's b-day party.

Sunday, we chose to be lazy during the morning and eat pastries w/parents while reading the paper. However, Jen was on a mission in the afternoon to shop until she drops or her wallet bursts?! This gave me the opportunity to get my long run in which felt awesome. I got to do a point2point by meeting Jen in the Rosedale parking lot. An hour and 47 minutes was good enough for me and following that we stopped in @ Noodles. Thru a pack of sliders down the chute on the way home and my gut is now ready to begin a new week.....