Odwalla

Yesterday was the big day! The Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10K and my first road race since the knee injury.

Despite closing down Starbucks with Ashley on Friday night, I woke up bright and early ready for the race. Before leaving the house I defrosted a VitaMuffin VitaTop for a little pre-race fuel.

This was my first time having one without heating it up in the toaster oven and I loved how soft it ended up being. Although, perhaps I should have heated it up because it was COLD outside.

See how bundled up the man on the right is? He was smart, as it was around 30 degrees this morning. I was kicking myself for leaving my hat and gloves at home…

I met up with the bootcamp babes for a group picture before the race.

We all trained for the race together and made shirts for the big day. So fun!!

Some other before shots were also taken:

Rebecca, a friend of mine and another bootcamp babe and I.

Anna, the fearless leader of the Bootcamp Babes and I.

After the photos we headed over to the starting line. As expected, it was super crowded.

I missed my wave and had to start a few waves behind schedule, which was fine because the chip doesn’t start timing you until you cross the starting line.

I ran most of the race alone, but the lovely scenery, rockin’ bands, crazy costumes, screaming fans, kept me fully occupied. I also wore my ipod to keep me motivated during points in the race when there wasn’t a band around. Which actual wasn’t every often!

They don’t call it Monument Avenue for nothing!

The weather may have been COLD, but the sun was shining and once I got started running I warmed right up.

I love all the blossoming trees…. so pretty!

Do you spy the band back there?

Overall, the race went really well. My knee felt good through the entire thing and I stayed at what I felt like was a steady pace. (My watch wasn’t cooperating so I gave up on trying to track myself). So I finished the race strong without a clue as to how I did.

I later found out that I actually had a great time – it wasn’t as fast as last year, but that was expected considering I took off 6 months of running during 2009 and didn’t start running again until this January. Turns out it was better than my 2008 time but and only about 40 seconds more than my 2009 time.

The finish time of 53:13 means that my average pace was an 8:30 mile. Needless to say, this made me v. happy!

Here’s a post-race shot…

I was all smiles with my Bondi Band still in place! Headbands never stay put on me so I was skeptical that this one would. But just as Ashley suggested, this one did! It also kept the sweat out of my face and eyes. I think I love this little band! Thanks again Ashley for introducing me to it!!

For some reason I’m not usually thirsty (nor do I want to waste time) during 5K and 10K races so I only stopped at one of the four-five water stations. Of course, I was parched at the finish line so I grabbed a bottle of water and made my way to the Food Station.

This year’s options weren’t as good as I remember them being in year’s past – Powerade, bananas, and plain bagels – not too exciting. Typically there’s at least 3 different bagel flavors to choose from and a variety of fruit. I grabbed a banana and went on my way.

The cool part is that Ukrop’s had food tables set up with samples of some fun products. (Maybe this is why the food station lacked pizazz?)

These options were more up my alley.

After grabbing some snacks I went back to the finish line to cheer on other boot camp babes as they finished the race. While cheering I snacked on my banana, stretched, and chatted with a friend (Hi, Bethany!!). I ended up walking the 2 miles back to my house. It was good to keep my legs moving and I was able to walk along the race course and cheer all the runners and walkers on. The only set back was that my body temperature had cooled down and I was wet with sweat. This made for frigid walk back. I was so happy to be greeted by this flowering little Bradfod Pear that Isaac planted in our front yard a couple years ago.

I went directly to the shower and the warm water never felt so good!

My swag.

After defrosting/showering I decided to refuel with a nutrient packed green smoothie.

Green Goddess Smoothie

1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 cup water
5 Brazil nuts
1 tbsp. chia seeds
1/2 tbsp. maca powder
2 big handfuls of fresh spinach

I packed all my things and took this yummy drink with me on the road to visit my mom, my sister and her family. I hung out with them last night and I’m here at my sister’s house now! It’s been a busy, but fun packed weekend!

Also, I have to note that hanging out with Ashley on Friday night was a total blast. We had a ton to chat about – she’s such a cool person and we have a lot in common! Hopefully I’ll get to visit her in Florida sometime soon?!? I love meeting up with other bloggers because even though it’s blind dateish, you already feel like you know the person, plus you both have a food blog so of course, you have similar interests!!

Happy Sunday my friends – enjoy your day!

- Brittany