Elgin FoxTrot 10 Mile Race: I really really really wanted to blow my nose.

Today I ran the Elgin FoxTrot 10 mile race.  I have run this one before in 2011 when it was obnoxiously hot and every water station also had towels soaking in ice water (AWESOME), and it was the first race I ran after running my very first half-marathon.  I ran with a buddy back then, and we took it slow because I was having a neuroma flare-up and he was having hamstring issues.

At the time, I was really more focused on our heat-induced and injury-riddled misery than the race itself.  Especially since we weren't racing it-we were running it.

And I didn't really race it this year.  Still being recovery from my marathon, I didn't want to push it and get injured, especially since Ragnar Chicago is right around the corner.  But I also didn't want to push it because of this chest cold which is still lingering in the ol' lungs.

So I decided to use this as a training run--my long run for the day, but pushing the pace faster than I would if I were running amongst the farm animals and open fields like I normally do.  I know some people feel you shouldn't do a race unless you actually train for it and run like a bat out of hell every time, but I disagree.  I think races can be used for those runs in which you want to run faster than usual but have a hard time actually doing that on your own without the thrill and competition of other racers around you.

I also think races can be used to practice a future marathon pace...say for a marathon that I am signed up for in October.  And say a pace between 9 and 9:30.....just sayin'.

Anyway, the race started on time at 7:30 A.M. and the weather was perfect: temps in the 40s and no wind.  As I stood in the pack at the starting line waiting for the gun to go off, everyone around me kept talking about how hilly the course was.  (I could hear them, you see, because I forgot my freaking iPod.  Angh.)  I didn't remember any huge hills from when I ran it two years ago, but I was taking their word for it and getting all freaky-deaky about those hills.

We hit a nice hill in the first 0.3 miles, and then we kept rolling up and down them throughout the course.  In fact, here's what the elevation profile of this course looked like (with my speed right along with it):

But, really, those hills were nothing compared to the one I had to run whilst in Tennessee doing a Ragnar:

All hills since that time have been compared to Monteagle.  And not one of them have come close to the 4 miles or so of crazy mental zanies I went through just to keep going up that hill just to hand off the slap bracelet to the next runner who got to run down the hill. 

So let's all just stop freaking out about these bumps people around here call "hills."

Most of the race I felt pretty good; my breathing was never out of control, and I backed off when I felt it starting to get all crazy wheezy.  I managed a 1:34:05 finish time, so about a 9:25 pace.  My chest was more full of junk than I thought it was from the chest cold, and I kept coughing for the first 3 miles (and for about 10 minutes after I crossed the finish line). 

But really all I wanted to do was blow my nose.  They need to have kleenex at all water stops.

I have written before about what a snot machine I am when I start running (and biking is even worse; I am a human hagfish on the bike), but when I'm sick the slime coming out of my nose reaches epically gross proportions.  Since I try not to snot rocket during a race, I was sucking in the nose slime until mile 8, where I just couldn't stand it any longer and let one loose along the side of the road.  Well, I meant to do it along the side of the road, but ended up blowing it all over the bottom of my shirt.  Fabulous.  I then literally sucked it up for the remaining few miles until I crossed the finish line, got to my car, and all snot broke loose in the parking lot.  It's one of the joys of running, people.  Truly majestic and inspiring.

Since my official race photographer slept in until 10:30 A.M. today (it's like he got up and ran 10 miles and was really tired.  Not.), this was the best I could do:

This was taken after the post-race snot incident.  Be glad you can't see that part of my face.

Weigh-in info:  I was at 145.4 this morning, so the weight seems to be coming down a bit.  Maybe the sickness made my body hoard the poundage.  I am doing OK with my eating, although I did splurge and have these SmartFood corn thingies in a sour cream and onion flavor so strong I fear I will be burping up that taste for eternity.  I've been being much better about finding recipes and cooking at home; it's all about building habits, isn't it?  Like blowing your nose when snot starts to run out onto your face.