A PR while running in costume

I have a new 10K PR!!  I even ran this new PR time while wearing a Statue of Liberty Costume!
Once again, I was leaving my house in the early hours of the morning.  
This is my friend and I before the race.  I'm on the left. 

Statues of Liberty ready to run

This was the Liberty Run.  Registration for this race includes a Statue of Liberty costume.  After the race, all of the Statues are gathered in a fenced area for the purpose of making a Guinness Book record of most people dressed as the Statue of Liberty.  This was done last year and was certified by Guinness and this year they wanted to break their own record! 
I ran the race with my friend, Erika.  We didn't even warm up; we just lined up when it was time:

lining up at the start

For running, we gathered our Liberty dresses up on one side and used a hair tie to hold them up.  I also wore my race # belt which helped me to control the thing while I was running!  I definitely wasn't a 65 minute pacer for this race!  This was tough!  The last two miles got really tough.  At one point, I fell behind Erika and she kept yelling to get caught up with her and somehow I did. 
We crossed the finish line with our torches raised high!

finishing

I looked at my Garmin after I pushed the button and it said, 53:40!!  I can't remember ever having a 10K time under 54 minutes!!  I'm pretty sure this is a PR for me!
Then we had the record breaking gathering.  They set up a timing mat at the entrance to a fenced area; as each person crosses the mat (with race bib still on) they are recorded.  The gathering has to be for 10 minutes.

Statues of Liberty as far as the eye can see!

After we exited the gathering area, Erika noticed the race results posted and so we went over there to see what our times were.  We both discovered that we were 2nd in our age groups!!  We got beer glasses!  the glasses are hard to see in the picture.  Our torches are in the glasses. 

Age group awards

Erika and I have run in prom dresses and Christmas lights and now Statue of Liberty costumes!  We were thinking of how we could use the costumes again for a Halloween race.  I was also thinking that I could wear it on New Years Eve in New York City in the Midnight Run! 
We are planning on doing the Red Carpet Run again this year and are making plans for what we're going to wear.
Tomorrow is 17 weeks out from the Chicago Marathon so it's only 1 more week until I will officially be training!  A few weeks later, Erika will start training for the New York Marathon. 
I'm exhausted tonight.  This early morning stuff is not for me!  Soon, I will be going to group long runs at 8am on Saturdays - oh joy! 

Runner Nerd
has a new PR

I placed in my age group today and got a medal!!!!!!!

I ran a 5K this morning and actually placed in my age group! I got 2nd.  This is the 5th year I've run this race.  It's a fundraiser for Michigan State University triathlon team. 
Before the race I ran 2.5 miles then after the race I ran 4 more miles so I ran 9.5 all together today.
After the race I ran around the campus of MSU.  Many of the buildings are very old and I was noticing the light fixtures on the fronts of some of them which are also very old.  There are times that I do wish I ran with a camera or a cell phone with a camera, today would have been one of those times.  The Red Cedar River, which winds it way through campus, is frozen and on every bridge I crossed over today I looked down and there were words in the snow covering the ice!   There was a big heart drawn in the snow by one of the bridges.

My favorite running store had a big sale this weekend mainly on winter gear.  I got a new winter shirt 50% off!!  I also got a new pair of winter trail shoes that were on sale!!  The ones I have now are still comfortable; I haven't noticed any sore feet yet but the soles are very worn down.  (feet hurting = 1st sign of needing new shoes)  I like wearing the winter trail shoes in the winter because cold air doesn't come in through the top like it does when wearing regular running shoes.  My feet would get soooooooooo cold, especially my toes.  I can't wait to wear them on a run and get them dirty!!!!!  There is just something about new shoes that makes you look like a total newbie and not a serious, experienced runner!!  Maybe it's just me but I can't wait to get new running shoes dirty.  Hopefully tomorrow after work.  I have my stuff packed and hopefully I will have enough light left when I get out of work.   I'm not wearing my new shirt until Thursday night running group! 

I ended up with 27.5 miles this week!  That is good for me at this time of year. 

After the running store I went over to Panera to do homework until they closed.  When I go somewhere I get a lot more done than I do at home. 

Runner Nerd
(the one with the clean running shoes)