Mackinac Island Lilac Festival 10k

I've been dreaming about running a race at Mackinac Island for a while. There are three different races on the Island: a 10k, an 8 miler, and a half marathon. The 8 mile race is one lap around the Island on the Lake Shore Road (nice and flat). The half marathon is more of a trail race, and the route takes you through the middle part of the Island. The 10k is a nice mix, which takes you through the hilly, middle part of the Island, and you finish on Lake Shore Road.

Race Route.

My parents only live 150 miles away from the Island, but we still stayed the night at a hotel in St. Ignace because we had to be on the 7:30 am ferry (yawn). It was more than enough time because we basically had an hour and a half to kill before the race start.

Near the Race Start.

The race was the perfect amount of people: not too large and not too small. I sometimes like low key races. I wasn't aiming to PR, I just wanted to enjoy the environment and the weather. The weather was perfect!! Mid-60s and zero humidity (heaven). We started on Main Street, and personally I would have liked to finish on Main Street. I understand why they did it... it gets pretty busy and they wanted to get us through there first.

Main Street.

After we exited Main Street, we had to run up a huge hill near Fort Mackinac. I tried to run it, but I had to walk. I thought my heart was going to pound out of my chest. Once we got up the steep hill, it took a good mile for my heart rate to go down. The route was very scenic: tree covered with rolling hills. It was like this until mile 3. The only thing I didn't like was the horse poop!! I felt like I was dodging it right and left. It wasn't that bad, but the last thing I wanted to do was step in horse poo.

British Landing Road.

We made it to Lake Shore Drive, and the horse poop diminished, but the damn mosquitoes were out in full force. I was getting really sweaty, so I just felt like the bugs were sticking to me. But the view was beautiful, and the terrain was flat.

Lake Shore Drive.

I felt better in the last half than the first half, which is new for me. My splits were all over the place though (which isn't new for me):

Suffered on mile 2, after the huge hill.

I loved the race bib and medal. I think this one is my favorite to date! We didn't get a technical shirt, and instead we received cotton. Even though it's cotton, I still really like it. The only thing that was really missing was the people!! Since the race started so early the Island was pretty deserted, but it was super peaceful. I also couldn't listen to music for the first 3 miles since I use Spotify and I didn't have cell phone reception when I was in the interior of the Island. So therefore I had to listen to myself (and others) struggle to breath.

Finished!

I finished in 58:27. Not a PR, but super happy with my time since I walked quite a bit in the beginning. This race was a huge wake up call for me though... I have two half marathons in July and I'm so not trained. I hope to get in some longer miles the next few weeks!! I do have a triathlon this weekend, and I have NO CLUE how to handle the transitions. This should be interesting.

I've been working on my crow pose, and this Friday I'm taking a hand balance class! I'm super excited, but a bit timid because I still have a lot to learn.

My pups are super helpful.

I highly recommend the Lilac Festival 10k!!

Main Street.