Cindy Lou: Lake Monona 20K

How I got suckered into this Lake Monona 20K race, I don't know. Well, I guess I do. A month ago, I thought it would be a great idea to sign up for this race with some persuading from my sister's boyfriend, Andrew. But I also thought I would have a month to train for this race.

My training for this race? The ACS race, a 10 mile run and Crazylegs race. Nothing else. Boy, was I in trouble.

I headed down to the race with an empty stomach since we had no milk for my cereal ritual. Mistake number one. Joshua was exhausted from work so he slept in and was going to meet me at the end of the race.

I got there and only knew of one person running this race...Andrew. So I kept an eye out for him. Miraculously, we saw each other before the race. So we ended up starting together at the back of the pack.

About two miles into it, I hear an 'Uh-oh'. Andrew was having problems with his leg so he had to stop and stretch it out. I continued on without him.

It definitely was a pretty race. We ran through Monona's neighborhood and out onto a trail. As we were on the west side of the lake running up John Nolen Drive, you could see the east side of the lake and the city of Monona.

I was still feeling good at 6 miles. My 10K time...55 min and 46 sec...about the same as the ACS run. The seventh mile was another story.

I was now on the north side of the lake and my right leg was not feeling the best. Mistake number two...I should've stopped and stretched it out. Instead, I decided to push through it and ran even though I felt my leg going numb.

I could feel myself slowing way down. Before I was passing people, now people were passing me. There was this one dude that I saw that kept stopping to walk then when I caught up to him he would start running again and so on. Then he figured out, hey this chick is about my pace. So we ran together in silence just enjoying each other's motivation to not stop. But eventually he had to and I looked back to give him a good luck smile.

So I continued on...all of a sudden out of nowhere I could hear heavy breathing...it's Andrew!!! He looked a lot better than me. We exchanged a few words then told him to go on since I wasn't in the best shape.

Back to myself again...then I ran into the sponsor's mascot. Quaker Steak and Lube's Chicken mascot. Ugh...I hate mascots. I tried to pass him but my legs would not go any faster. I ended up running next to him for a mile then let him pass me since I was creeped out by him. It was amazing though, how many people who were driving stopped to take a picture of him. Ick, if I could burn all mascot costumes, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

Two miles to go...at least that's what one volunteer said but it was closer to three. Thanks jerk!

One and a half more miles to go...all downhill from here...at least that's what another volunteer said. NOT!!! Thanks jerk!

Yes, it was downhill from where that volunteer was but then it went uphill again. I pushed as hard as I could. I rounded the corner and saw the finish line...ahhhh yes! I sprinted as hard as I could, from what little energy I had left. But when I saw Joshua, a big smile appeared on my face. I gave him the biggest high five that I could and crossed the finish line.

My time...1 hour, 58 minutes and 36 seconds. My second 10K half, a horrible 1 hour 2 minutes and 50 seconds. Overall, a 9:33 pace. Not awesome but not horrible. What was awesome was having Joshua greet me at the finish line and hand me a nice cold Gatorade bottle.

Then I went to the grass to pass out...not really. But my leg was super numb and I couldn't feel it so I made Joshua give me a massage and stretch that leg out. As we were doing that, the guy that I was running with finished and came over to thank me for running with him. It didn't need to be said as it's a runner's guide to be thankful to be running with someone to help motivate each other.

I limped over to where Andrew and Linda was and we headed toward the refreshment area. Andrew and I got some wings and some beer while Joshua had gone to my car to grab my sweats. Thank goodness since it was getting cold out. Unfortunately, Joshua couldn't hang out with us since he had to go to work.

So Linda, Andrew and I stayed to have more beer and listened to some music. But soon, we were getting tired so we headed out.

When I got home, I immediately passed out on the bed. I didn't wake up again until my alarm went off to wake me up for work. Why I decided to work, I have no idea.

This was a really fun run. I hope to do it again next year. But maybe this time, with more training :)