Hot Dash, Hot Swag, Hot Dish - Race Recap

Disclaimer:  I received a race entry into the Hot Dash 10 Mile as part of being a BibRave Pro.  

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This weekend, I ran the Twin Cities Hot Dash 10 mile!

It was fantastic! Very cold, but fantastic!

Make sure to check out my review on BibRave!  While you're there....review your latest race too! 

1:27:06  - 8:37/mile

Saturday morning, I woke up rested.  I looked out the window and my mouth dropped.  I guess living in Minnesota, I shouldn't be surprised to see a fresh layer of snow on the ground.  I already knew that it was going to be a chilly 28 degrees and the snow didn't make it any easier.  

The hour drive into Minneapolis was treacherous to say the least.  I basically "white-knuckled" it as I passed accident after accident.  I swung by to pick up some fellow bibrave pros that I met for the first time.  We instantly hit it off and had a great race together!  

Parking to the race was a bit of a hassle.  Traffic was hardly moving into the parking ramp, but on the bright side, we were able to stay in the warm car until just about start.   We cut it close.  Of course, I HAD to do my pre-race pee... and luckily the race organizers had ample porta-potties.  I waited only about 2 minutes which was great!  

I've had a nagging quad pain for the last week or so, which has caused me to take some time off of running this week.  I was worried that it would effect my race, so initially, I started out slow for the first 2-3 miles.  Once I realized my leg didn't hurt during the run, I almost effortlessly picked up the pace and starting doing 8:20's.   The only negative to the race start was the bottle-neck of the first few miles.  Faster runners are weaving to pass slower runners.  Due to my late arrival to the race, I was unable to start at my proper corral so I had to weave quite a bit for the first 2 miles.   

As I write this race recap however, my quad is sore and has a bit of a throb.  What the heck is going on? I still think that it's from the week before when I pushed so hard during my sprints.

The course was very flat until about mile 7.5 when the bridge with the hill came up.  The good part about the hill is that it has a downhill right after.  Yahoo!  Can't beat that.  The view over the Mississippi is fantastic too, but you have to be all the way to the right if you'd like to really see the view. :) 

I loved the post-race party because of the Minnesota Lumberjack theme.  I made sure to bring my beard with me for the funny pictures at the end.  We were treated to hotdish that was HOT and tasty at that end as well.  This was in addition to the usual post-race fare of bananas and chips.  I also liked that we all got a 20 oz. water bottle! 

Hot Dish - with Cornflakes! Can't beat a hot dish with corn flakes! :)

We made sure to make our way to the Hot Dash banner and get all the fun props for our photos! I did bring my own beard with for effect.  HA!

This course was not a course PR for me, but I do think I could have done it had I not been so cautious about my leg to begin with.  My official time was 1:27:06.  8:37/mile.  That deserves a celebration as I was fairly close to negative splits and really put the pedal to the medal the last 4 miles especially!  Yahoo!!

The medal was a great addition to the race as last year the race didn't have one!  It's pretty cute!  Does it sound bad that I would have liked it bigger???  Can't EVER have your race bling too big!  It's not huge, but it's a medal.  I bet next year it will be bigger!!  I do really LOVE the race shirt we got!  It's fantastic! The logo on the back is super cute and the size is just right.  I will definately be wearing it again for sure!

Overall, I am very happy with how this race turned out.  Obviously, it could have been warmer outside, but it is still March in Minnesota and that means snow and cold.  I would highly recommend this race to anyone who wants a nice distance in March!