On the offchance that you didn't see my post from the other day - this is the TomTom Runner! I decided to try it over the Forerunner 10 because it still tracks pace/distance when you're on a treadmill, plus it's prettier and my Polar H7 heartrate monitor will connect with it too. I haven't had a chance to take it out of the packaging yet, but when I try it out I will let you know what I think!
At the halfway point of our trip we stopped to visit Pete's brother and finally see his apartment. We grabbed lunch at a fancy Italian bistro that made me feel like we were not classy enough to be there, lol. I ate half a ham panini - no pasta for me so close to the run!
I should probably mention the BEST part of the whole thing - the night before the run Pete decided to register and do it with us! I was so excited because we've never done a run as a family before. It was pretty great to share something I enjoy so much. Here are some pictures of us before the run:
We arrived in Madison at 6:00, just in time for the beginning of the packet pick-up. That was the most disappointing part of the day - they did not have all of the shirt sizes available due to a shipping error. I was thrilled that they had women's cut shirts but they said ALL shirts ran a size small so I had ordered an XL. They didn't have them available so they said they could give me a unisex Large or I could put my name on a list to have the women's XL mailed to me. I decided to just take the unisex large... I figured I can have someone cut the sleeves and stuff and make it into a cute workout shirt. Pete ordered an XXL - both because they said the shirts ran a size small and because he has really broad shoulders so sometimes XL shirts are short on him - and they didn't have those on hand either. Pete put his name on the list to have a shirt mailed to him. For what we paid for this run I thought it was pretty bogus. We also got glow sunglasses and an LED bracelet to wear during the run.
Right away we ran into my dear friend Amandalynn, her husband Alan, and their son Dmitri. I had planned on getting a hold of them after we got our packets but small world, we crossed each others' paths first! Amandalynn is an amazing photographer and friend that I met online when I was pregnant with Brady. We were in an online community for mothers due in March 2005. We met up numerous times the first few years after we had the kids but the last time I saw her was over three years ago so it was great to see her now. The boys quickly became reaccquainted and ran off to play while the adults chatted.
Pretty soon the announcer was saying that we should line up - about an hour before our actual start time. We were just standing around chatting anyway so we didn't mind... the time went by quickly and it was fun to people watch. Some people got so wacky and creative with their ensembles! We were towards the front so I turned around and took a picture of the crowd behind me:
As you can see, it was still fairly light out so I was starting to worry that we'd be doing the run when it wasn't truly dark enough to enjoy all of the glow stuff - luckily, right when the run started it began to get dark quickly. I took a few Vine clips, but the one I did DURING the run somehow erased before I had a chance to post it. Bummer. Here is a picture that was posted on the Electric Run facebook page of my favorite part of the course (source: @leashy004):
The course was definitely the strangest I had ever been on... we ran on both pavement and dirt, and there were some decent hills as well. Some areas were really narrow and there were a few moments where we were forced to walk because we couldn't get around the people in front of us. Pete had not practiced or trained to run and hasn't run in years - but unlike me he was very athletic growing up. I still figured he would fare better than me because he always brags that he can "run like a deer", LOL. We kept a slow but steady pace with Brady and ran the first mile and a half until Pete said to go on ahead without him. At this point I was ready for a little walk break too, I just didn't want to be the one to break down first. I was ready to go before Pete and Brady and I started back up again, but Pete caught up to us at the only water station which was around the end of mile two. Brady decided he was going to chug his entire full glass of cold water and then keep running - he quickly discovered that was a bad move. He got a nasty stomach cramp and we walked a lot of the last mile because of it. Our first two miles were around 11 minutes and our last was 13 1/2. The last little bit of the run Brady gave it his all and we had around an 8:33 pace - I think all of the volunteers cheering him on helped! The volunteers on the course were almost all nice and really encouraging, giving high fives and kind words.
By the end of the run Pete was basically drenched in sweat - it was an eye opener for him about just how out of shape he was. ;) He really enjoyed himself though and said he would definitely do it again, which made me veryvery happy! I can't see him doing early morning runs though... but hopefully I can talk him into another night run! I think I may even be able to get him to go on a practice run with me, at least once. Progress is good, people!
At the end of the run they had cups of water and mini cans of Rockstar Recovery, as well as little granola bars. They also had beer/soda and food for sale at ridiculously inflated prices. Brady had a $6.50 cheeseburger, and Pete had a $6.50 chicken sandwich and a $3.50 bottle of water. I stuck with the goodies they handed out.
Here's a bad quality yet still cool picture of Brady and me after the run. I look thin in the picture so I kind of want to frame it, hahaha. They had a DJ and dance party after but we only stuck around for a bit of it because we still had a three hour drive home ahead of us. They threw out tons of glow sticks and batons but we weren't able to get any. Despite Brady's stomach cramping we all had a really fun time. Pete was thrilled with the number of people he passed up (haha) and the fact that he finished in under 40 minutes. This was a fun run so they didn't time us, but I ran Endomondo and we finished in 36:35. Again, it was really hard for me to walk with Brady when I knew I still had it in me to run - but I know I'll get my chance to give it my all at the Aurora run in a few weeks!
For those of you that want to see if this run comes near you, check out www.electricrun.com. Aside from the shirt fiasco it was a fun time!
1 comment:
I can't wait to see if you like the TomTom. I have an old Garmin 205 and was looking at the Forerunner. We had a similar race here (called the Firefly) but it got sold out.
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