Cohasset Road Race By the Sea!

Yesterday was my first 10k, and Chris' first-ever road race!  

We got up around 8:00, had a leisurely breakfast of coffee and hard-boiled eggs, and headed out around 10:00.  We got to Cohasset around 10:30 and we were the third car in the parking lot.  The race didn't start until 1:00pm.   So, we had lots and lots of time to kill.  We got our numbers, our chips and our T-shirts and hung out for a few hours.  We ate some fruit & yogurt cereal bars, had some free coffee, and walked around.  Chris' mom came out to see us, so we hung out with her for a bit.  

Also, we shivered.  The day started out really cold!  I was absolutely freezing in my sweats and didn't know if I wanted to take them off to race (I had shorts and a T-shirt on underneath).  But the sun eventually came out and by race time, it was tolerable, so I stripped down and shivered some more for a couple of minutes...

But actually, as we got behind the starting line, I started to feel hot.  Then when we started running, I was REALLY hot!   Then I got REALLY thirsty.  I don't ever remember being so thirsty so soon during a run before.  Granted, I was running a lot faster than I normally do, but I think I must have started out a bit dehydrated.   I may not have had enough water after running on Saturday.  Oops!   

Anyway, I started out pretty fast (I think), but was too hot and too thirsty to keep up that pace.   I think I stopped for water at every opportunity.  Before the race, I had thought I'd only need to stop once, if at all!   When I go for a 5 mile run on my won, I don't bring water, but I forget that during a race, it's different.  I'm pushing myself harder.  I think pulled over to grab a cup of water four or five times during the 6.2 miles.  

The course was also very hilly.  Mile 4 to mile 5 was a killer.  It included the steepest hill and that mile just seemed to go on forever.   In fact, after a while, I'd made up my mind that I had missed the "Mile 5" sign, or that there just hadn't been one, so when I finally saw it, I was a teensy bit shocked that I was only at mile 5!

That's enough griping; now on to the good stuff.  For one thing, the course was amazingly, stunningly beautiful.  I really wish I could have taken pictures of it along the way!  The water was such a gorgeous blue-green, and you could see Boston in the distance at one point.  The sun was shining and I had the urge to just jump in the ocean a couple of times.  I resisted though!   People were sitting outside on chairs in their driveways to cheer us on.  It was so cute!  For those of you not familiar with the area, just know that Cohasset is too adorable to be real.    

I also achieved my goal, and came in at just under an hour!  My time was 59:08.  YAY!  

Also lots of fun was hearing my name near the very end of the race, looking over, and seeing Jenny!   I was psyched!  

But then this girl and her dog jumped into the race to run alongside the girl's dad or something, and just at the mat where the chip records your time, the girl totally wiped out.  I had a moment where I really thought I was going to land on top of her, and I have to admit that my first thought was not "I hope that little girl is OK."  It was more like, "wow, I really hate that little girl. "  I did manage not to trample her though, so that's gotta count for something, right? 

I also managed not to throw up when I stopped running, even though I really felt like I was going to for a minute there.   I made a bee-line for the water and downed a bottle in about 2 gulps, and was right as rain after that!  

Chris came in at 1:13:28, and I got to see him finish and cheer him on!  He told me a pretty scary story about seeing a woman collapse right in front of him during the race.  He actually ran backwards to the closest water stop to make sure someone was getting help.  Clearly, he's my better half. 

After the race, we got our well-deserved hot dogs (WITH mustard, thank you very much).  However, that was not enough food for the likes of us.  We were both still starving, so we went out for a late lunch.  I had a weird hankerin' for a chocolate milk shake and a burger.  It was all I wanted!  So, we went to Chili's and I got my wish.

Overall, it was a great day and I'm really proud of myself and Chris (and Jenny and Kristen and Kate)!   I'll definitely do this race again, and next time, I'll drink more water beforehand, and I'll bring my iPod (I lost Chris and Kate almost right away and had no one to talk to, not that I could have talked anyway).

Now, as promised, here are some photos!

 

This is Chris' chip

Me pinning my number on.

Ta-Daa!!

Chris on a bench

#1283!

Me and Kate (Kate had a bad day.  Her knee popped during the race.  Poor girl!   She is awesome and I hope her knee gets better SOON!)

Chris lounging on the grass

Chris' mom took this one of Chris crossing the finish line.

Chris & me, after the race

Chris with a hot dog

Me DEVOURING my hot dog

Me at Chili's, looking like the undead.  

Chris, looking a bit red because he didn't wear any sunscreen! 

Our Next Race:  Boston's Run to Remember Half-Marathon!