Wine & Dine Tune Up

This morning I was able to participate in the inaugural Finish Strong 15k.

The plan was to treat it like a low-key tune up before RunDisney's Wine & Dine Half Marathon. I hoped to run somewhere between 8:00 and 8:30 splits and take my time. Of course, by the time the race starts, I can get a little competitive. Judging from my watch, that's exactly what  happened:

 The race itself was definitely a challenge.  Rochester is pretty hilly and this course definitely had enough hills to be getting on with.  Normally, hills don't throw me.  However, when the hills are combined with some rain and the first truly chilly day of the year, and a not insignificant headwind, it becomes quite an adventure.  It was definitely a race I had to power through.  I ran strong and finished strong as well:

Me after the finish!

After bundling up to stay warm, I waited for the race results to be posted.  I was surprised to see that I finished first in my age group.  I even got a medal:

I'm going to go ahead and call it a GREAT tune-up race.  19 days until I'm bound for Walt Disney World!