Even Me: Dam to Dam 2011 and a PR!!

Yesterday, I ran the Dam to Dam 20K.

I worked the night before the race but got off early for a little pre-race carbing up.

Tequila is a carb, right?

T had already gotten started without me....

We had to be at our friend's house at 5:20 to catch a ride to the shuttle so I got up around 4:30 to prep some pre-race snacks.

Luna bar for me. Balance bar for T. Bananas smeared with PB and Ibuprofen for both of us.
T was dressed in his racing finest.

Best one liner of the race:
T: "I don't think I've ever pooped this early, I'm so nervous." HA!

We met Sandy and Katrisha at their house to ride together to the shuttle pick up.

Dam to Dam starts at the beginnng of the Sailorville Dam so all 8000 runners get dropped off by bus before the start of the race. T wasn't particulary thrilled about being on a bus at 5:45AM on a Saturday morning. Or the fact that I signed him up to run 12.4 miles....

You can leave a bag at the start with your stuff in it to pick up after the race (post race beer garden and Farmer's Market just a block away). The race volunteers sort them all by race number so it's easy to find.

We met friends at 'the triangle' before the race. Everyone was geared up and ready to go!!

Katrisha, Chelle, Kim and I decided to start with the 8:30 minute-mile pacers so we could avoid the bottle-neck at the 10 minute-mile pacer area. That might have been a mistake.
We ran our first few miles in the low 9's! A little fast for us.
However, I felt pretty good. It was muggy so we hit every water stop. We also had a GU energy bite thingy around mile 4. I made a mix on my Ipod that turned out just perfect.

I was feeling really good and decided to kick it up a notch around mile 8 and cruised on ahead of Katrisha.
My goal was to finish under 2 hours.
When I crossed the finish line, the clock read around 1:58. I was so stoked I met my goal!!
Our official times came out last night:

Me 1:56:07
T 2:36:57
Katrisha 2:01:04
Sandy 2:38:24

T and Sandy stopped at every mile marker to take pictures with their friend Pauly. They also walked the last two miles. It was T's very first race and the longest he's ever run! I was so proud of him!

Post race I was on a food mission and T just wanted a shower so I hit the farmer's market for this:

It's the new 'breakfast thing' from Tacopocalypse.
Two homemade corn tortillas stuff with melted cheese topped with half bacon chorizo, half vegan chorizo, eggs, special sauce and onions.
Heaven.
I go to the Farmer's Market every Saturday just for these guys.