Today, I got out there and I did my first “10k” race fun run at the Muir Murray Estate Winery in Wolfville.  It was only a fun run and a chance to run and drink wine, but to me, it was all business and I trained for 10 weeks following this plan to get my base training into 10k running shape.  Because it was a “fun run” I wasn’t intimidated to get started and to go for it.  Sometimes that’s the hardest part 😉

I car pooled with Conny & Jessica and we arrived right at 9:00 and scored a great parking spot right at the winery.  It.was.cold. We had to heard into the distillery to get our race bibs and I was starting to worry about how flipping cold the wind was. I didn’t feel like I was prepared for the cold run.  I had no ear warmers or hat, no gloves or anything that everyone else seemed to be wearing around me.  Uh oh. Dudes, it was COLD.

So we decided to head on inside and wait in the longer line for the “warm bathroom” while we waited for the time to pass:

I’m not frightened, I swear!

Then we decided we’d head to the car to get our Garmins and whatever we needed (and stay warm) and since we scored such a great spot, it was literally a hop, skip and a jump from the start line.  There were still lots of people getting their bibs, so we were pretty sure the 10:00 start time was just a “guide” as to when we’d start, but sure enough as we’re sitting in the car, off goes the gun to start the race! lol  It was no big deal because the race wasn’t timed, but it was our cue to get going and get our run on!

The run was at the winery, so as you can imagine it was rustic:

The first pit stop was at the 2.5 kms mark (half way for the 5k runners) and you had the chance to drink some of their white wine (and water too), but I only stopped for a split second to take a picture and I was on my way.  I couldn’t imagine being able to drink wine and run! lol

I said it was rustic!

The wind was so cold at times it took your breath away

Once you got accustomed to the freezing cold wind & cow poop, it’s all good

The second (and last) pit stop – no way I was waiting in line during my “race”

I found my stride fairly early in the run right where I wanted to be.  I had always taken walking breaks in my training runs, but today I felt like I didn’t “need” them.  My goal was to finish 10k in 1:15 which is an average pace of 7:30/km, so I felt good keeping my pace in the 7:20 range for the most part.  But I have to say, I don’t think I saved very much time by not stopping (I stopped very briefly only a few times to take a drink).  I think throughout the duration of the run, my overall pace averaged out and if I kept to a 10:1 plan or give myself 1 minute walking breaks intermittently, I think I would have been able to run faster at some parts.  But instead, I kept my pace pretty steady the whole time which was fine too because it was a pretty comfortable pace.  By the last 2 kms, I was definitely losing a bit of steam and I wonder if doing the 10:1’s would have made a difference there.

Our one lonely spectator

I really do love my Garmin. I love being able to pace myself and to see what distance is yet to come.  There were no distance markers on this race (at least none that I could see), so unless you had a GPS, you had no idea!  If there is only one thing I would give feedback to them about this, it would be to stick up some distance markers because it’s nice to see as you’re going by, especially when spectators are lacking 😉

I knew that I was getting close, but was expecting another 5 minutes of running ahead of me when I approached the spirit crushing rocky hill at the end that was near the start line.  I knew there was still supposed to be another 0.7 left to go, but there was our speedy gonzalas Conny standing there taking my photo (and the spirit crushing hill that slowed me down BIG time):

This was the “easy” part of the hill

We of course took a sweaty/foggy “I’m finished” self-photo:

Yes I stick my iphone in my sports bra and it makes the camera steamy

Not far behind was Jess! That girl is awesome!

First 10k Everrr!

 And sure enough, the Garmin doesn’t lie, it was quite short of 10k and we finished in around 9.29kms

Must be a gift from the spirit crushing hill

Next up was to go and grab your swag bag and into the winery for boozin’.

We decided to forgo the boozin and gave our drink tickets to a friend of Conny’s in favour of going to get a hot meal and it was off to Paddy’s Pub!

Love the swag!

There was of course a t-shirt too, but I love the wine glass etched with the Muir Murray logo and snack tray that holds your glass! #genius

All in all, it truly was a “fun” run and I’m glad I did it.  It was so relaxed that truly anyone could have participated and enjoyed themselves.  You could run if you wanted to or walk and mingle at the rest stops as much as you pleased.  In all honesty, I would have truly appreciated the route to be the full 10k because well, it’s a “10k!”, but I guess I’ll just have to make up for it in another “real” race 🙂

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