Before I get to the race, I have to start with the night before, Saturday. We drove the 1.5 hr drive out to Palm Springs and decided to stop at the Morongo Casino/Resort/Spa that we had been at about a month before. Evidently, everyone in the Inland Empire’s idea of a romantic Valentines evening included chain smoking and penny slots because the casino was PACKED. We stayed about an hour and walked out the door with an extra $502!!! Jamie baby was playing 3 card poker and had 3 of a kind which was a $600+ payout.
We stayed at a place called the Doral Desert Princess Resort which was incredibly average in every way. Most hotels were booked and triple the price because of V-day and the 3 day weekend. For $99, it wasn’t bad, but the coolest thing was definitely the water feature out front.
Wake up call was at 5:30 am. I had a cup of hotel coffee and most of a Clif bar. I wasn’t hungry and didn’t want to eat it, but figured I would need it. (Why can’t I have this problem later in the day?? No, candy and sweets, I don’t want you!) The weather was perfect for racing, cold but warming up; the race was small-1000 people in the half, and the course was mercifully flat.
Things were going perfectly PR’ish until I realized I would be running without music. My ipod nano froze the night before and wouldn’t turn on or off so it ran out of battery and died. So I took hubby’s ipod touch in a preventative measure. At the start line, it also froze and wouldn’t turn on. I was beyond frustrated; gave the stupid @$%*^# thing to J and waved my PR goodbye.
Started the race; it was weird to hear everyone breathing and the pounding of sneakers instead of music. But I was able to get into a breathing rhythm quickly. I ran the first mile in 8 minutes exactly. And then I kept running. faster. surprisingly. I was just waiting to hit a music-less wall but I never did. I took 4 shot blocks (135 cals) throughout the race which combined with the Clif bar was alot for me; I really prefer to run on an empty stomach.
I ran hard; I felt good, and I finished in 1 hr 42 mins 33 seconds. I set a new PR for myself by nearly 4 mins!! I couldn’t believe it yesterday and still can’t. That seems way too fast for slow me; I’m still getting over my last PR. (My GARMIN said 30 seconds faster, and they didn’t have time chips but we’ll go with the official results. I was 5th in my division and the 27th girl to finish.)
As I was going through the water stations, I decided to multi-task and do a little laundry as well ~ washing my shirt while drinking….
This was a really good race; every factor fell into place, and I had a great time, although I doubt I will ever be able to beat that time or run that fast again. But let’s not forget the most important part, we won $500!!!!
