Hale Freezes Over 10K Recap

After a pretty long break from racing I jumped back in the saddle with my first race of the 2013 season over the weekend.  The Hale Freezes Over 10k/5k is such a laid back and fun race that has become a tradition for me and I look forward to it every year.  This was my third year participating in this event and the Hale Center Theatre continues to put on a great race.  You can read my recap from 2011 here and 2012 here.

This race for me was a building block in preparation for my upcoming half marathons.  I will be racing the IMS Arizona Half marathon in Phoenix, AZ this Sunday February 17th and the Dogtown Half marathon in St. George on February 23rd.  One of these races I will actually race and the other I will use as a marathon paced tempo (or just jog depending on how I feel) since they are so close together.  I clearly just need a break from the winter weather and planned both of these races solely in an attempt to escape to a warmer climate.

Now back to the 10k race.  As I already knew from running this race twice before the 10k course is hilly and tough.  The first half is downhill and the second half is uphill.  My main goal (besides not slipping, messing up my hairdo, or losing my lucky headband) was to run a consistent effort and not fall apart in the final miles.

Race Start

Mother nature so kindly blessed us with yet another snowstorm Friday night making conditions for the race a little bit less than ideal.  I had a few people ask me if they would cancel the race because of the weather and I just had to laugh and remind them of the name of the race.  Conditions were truly living up to the name this year!  The roads were icy, snowy, and slick....so pretty much exactly what I've become accustomed to training in this winter.  Sadly we've had a pretty bad winter in Utah and running in these types of conditions has actually become quite normal.  After the race director announced over the mega phone "Don't try to run your fastest race today" the gun shot and we were off.  My splits for the race were 6:05, 6:12, 6:10, 6:30, 6:44, 6:20.  The 10K course is short and my garmin measure 6.04 miles for a time of 38:10/6:20 pace.  Although my splits are inconsistent I feel that I ran a very even effort and held it together incredibly well throughout the hilly miles.  Most importantly I did not fall and my headband was still perfectly intact at the finish.  Weather aside I really enjoyed diving back into the racing scene and had an absolute blast!  Here are some pictures from the day. 

My time was good enough for 2nd place female and 5th overall.

Me and my friend and training partner Jen who took 1st in the 5K.  Love this girl and am so lucky to have her to train with. 

My friend Carla and I after the race.

My freaking awesome parents even came out and froze they're tushies off waiting for me to finish.  I love them!

As much as I love improving my times and running well I think my favorite thing about racing is meeting new and aspiring runners and spending time with people that share the same passion.  It was a great day and I am really looking forward to what 2013 has in store for me.