This was a very last minute idea, I think I probably signed up 2 weeks before this race. According to my half marathon training plan it says I should run at least one 10k. Crazily I’ve signed up for another 10k just before my half, but that’s a whole other story.

                             Race gear ready, minus one compression long sleeve that I later added.

I knew this would be a nice race because it ended on Virginia Key beach, and that’s always a sweet ending to a race. What I did not know was how the weather would get, I expected a 60-70 degrees as usual for an early morning. It was 40-50 degrees and in Miami that is considered practically snowing weather. I got to the race early so I could pick up my race shirt since I had only collected my race bib when I went to Footworks a few weeks earlier. Luckily I found parking closeby and once I got the shirt I threw it in my car and walked around a bit more. Everyone was trying to stay warm and the wind gusts did not help at all. It was so cold!

                                                                                 Gorgeous Sunrise

                                                                          even the dj was freezing!

I met up with MariaJose, I had been friends with her on Twitter for a couple of weeks but we hadn’t met yet,  so we lined up at the start together while chatting. And we were off, of course I started out way too quickly but slowed down and got into a good 8:30 rhythm. Before I knew it I was at the finish line, although because of some construction on one of the Key Biscayne bridges the distance wasn’t a full 10k, so it became a 6 mile race instead. I walked around after and gathered a banana and some snacks & waited for the results to be posted. I came in 4th place in my age group!! I was so happy, and went quickly to the finish line to wait for MariaJose. She arrived just as the kid’s race was about to begin, so she got to dodge all the kids lining up. It was a nice race, and with some interesting sights on the path. As soon as I left there I went to Jamba Juice, it had been awhile and I was thirsty for some fruits. The cashier was like “oh you are a runner!” all excitedly when she noticed my race bib still pinned on my shirt, that was probably the moment where I felt very very proud to be a runner.

                                                            Another silly finish line photo for me.

                                                                  Jamba Juice post race goodness!