Monument Ave 10K

Cole and I ran the Monument Ave 10k at the end of March with 37,000 other people (apparently it's 25th biggest 10k in the world). We got to run by tons of Civil War monuments, old colonial neighborhoods and listen to several great bands while we ran. The last half mile was run on the cobblestone street that makes it's way into downtown. It was a beautiful and very cold 35 degree morning. We ran with numb toes, wore gloves and Cole ran wearing his beanie too.

We got there very early so we could be at the front of our wave and not have to run with so many people for the first few minutes. Cole and I lined up and started together with no intention to run together at all.

Cole and his fabulously incredible competitive nature was gone before I even took a few steps. He ran the race much much faster than he trained for. He ended up averaging an exact 7 minute mile finishing the 6.2 mile race in 43:24!! Crazy fast! He had never done a race like this and wasn't even sure how fast to do it. He said his miles were all over the place and he ran the first mile in just 5 minutes and realized that he'd never be able to keep that pace for 6 miles, so he'd slow down a bit when we ran past a good band to give himself a little break.

He ended up waiting for me much longer than I had hoped. Due to a knee injury from back in February I ended up running, walking, and hobbling to the finish line. I ran the first 3 miles in a lot of pain and then decided I'd better walk or I'd be in bed for a few days if I didn't. I picked up my pace for the last mile and did a hobbling jog to the finish line. Even though I was frustrated with my knees during the race I kept laughing at myself wondering how funny I must have looked with my walking/jogging limp. (The photos from the race photo company truly show the grimace on my face!)

Surprisingly I still finished the race in 1 hr and 7 minutes, putting my mile time around 10 minutes and 40 secs, so I must have been walking really really fast to pull off that time!

It was a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to the next race!