Review: Fifth Third River Bank Run 25k

This past weekend I completed my longest race to date - the Fifth Third River Bank Run.  A 25k.  Or, 15.625 miles.  I was expecting to finish in 3:29:59 (as the cut off time was 3 and a half hours), but I delighted myself with a 2:47:47 time.  That is a 10 min, 50 sec mile.  And that, is awesome for me!!  I normally pace about a 12 minute mile even when running a measly 4 miles around town here.

It was really an awesome weekend all around.  I took the train out to Grand Rapids from Chicago Friday night right after work, and it was really pretty.  As I was passing through St. Joseph, Michigan it was dusk and oh-so-gorgeous.

 My mom and dad had driven to GR from the Detroit area that day as well and were waiting for my at the train station.  Surprised me with the fact that my dad ended up registering for the race too, so he's be running with me!

On Saturday morning we woke up bright and early, I slapped on my running watch, grabbed my iPod, and I was good to go.  We headed down to the start of the race and got ready to run.  Per normal I tried to scoot up as much as possible in the corral before we started.  I managed to get up to the 10 minute pacer.

The race started and we were on our way.  My dad and I separated early.  My strategy was "just keep running," then walk through the water stations.  It worked for me all the way to the 11 mile water station where I seemed to lose some stamina.  I was hurting bad.  So at that point I ended up walking/running (as much as possible), until I say the finish line ahead where I went full force and sprinted through the end.  2:47:47. 

My boyfriend Joe had driven from Chicago that morning to watch me cross the finish line, but he was just a few minutes late.  We we caught up after the race and hung out with my parents the whole day.

We went out to dinner that night to Twenty Five Kitchen + Bar downtown, where I got a chicken sandwich smothered in caramelized onions and feta cheese.  Can you think of anything better?

All in all, a great weekend with great people.  Bonus that I got to see my mom for Mother's Day!