Leprechaun Chase 10K

Well, it was suppose to be a 10K race, but it ended up a 5K. Although I was not aware of that fact until nearing 2 miles into the race when we hit a turn around on a route that was suppose to be a loop.

With a start time of 10:00 am, I headed out on a mile warm up run a little before 9:40. I'm not sure if an announcement was made during that time, or if I just couldn't hear the announcer while lining up, but it was apparent during the race that I was not the only one who was unaware of the change. After getting back to my truck I noticed that I had received an email from the race director at around 9:30 informing of the change due to the weather conditions. The last 4 miles of the race were suppose to be run on bike trails that were deemed unsafe due to the snow that had fallen overnight.

If I had known from the start that the race had been cut in half, I would have run faster. Even with the shorter distance, I was very happy with how I ran. My official time was 29:59 and I finished 607/981 overall. My legs felt great the whole time and I have no doubt I would have been flirting with a 10K PR had we run the full distance.

Even though it wasn't the race I was expecting, it still went a long way in helping me to build confidence and re-energizing me going forward with my training. In face, This afternoon I ended up spending an hour on my bicycle trainer logging over 20 miles. That is one of my best bike rides in a long time. The downside is that I will have to make up those 3 lost miles tomorrow so my training run went from 6 to 9 miles. It is a good thing that I really like to run.

All bundled up for the race and wearing green
so I don't get pinched!