10k Race

Today was the 10k race! I did not get a personal record, but I did get a best for a 10k race, so it's almost the same. :) What a whirlwind day!



I was first woken up at 5am by my German Shepherd, who felt it would be a good idea to jump on my uterus. I gasped and snorted all in one shot, and sat straight up in bed. Good morning! She's so precious.



I felt weird this morning... I had a hard time getting started with my race morning routine, but managed to get out the door only a couple minutes late. I went to Susan's, and then we were on our way! Parking was different this year, and we had to park farther away, but luckily, we still had time for a Starbucks potty break. We couldn't find our other friends that were running with us, so we lined up for the start. About one minute before the clock started, we saw our friends. We ran over to them and helped them with their D-tag chip timers and race bibs. In the meantime, the clock started and the runners were off. We were all yelling to each other about making sure we started at the right spot to cross the chip mats, and off we went! Our two friends went on ahead, and Susan and I ran together for a while.



I never seemed to find my stride today. My shins were sore and never really loosened up, and the whole thing felt like a struggle. I kept thinking that the course seemed A LOT harder than last year, though it was exactly the same. I didn't allow myself the option of stopping, though I wanted to many times. At the 3 mile mark, I was at 32:30 (they yelled out the times as you ran past).



When I hit mile 5, I literally felt my strength leave. It doesn't make sense on a "shorter" run, but I think I hit the wall. I was so exhausted. I saw that "Mile 5" sign, and my heart sunk. There was someone with a hose, spraying the runners, and I took the opportunity to cool down and refresh. It worked, and I managed to run the rest of the way. I really wanted to push it when I could see the finish line, but just couldn't bring myself to run any faster.



I'm happy with my time. I would have loved to get a personal record, but I still had a great race. I enjoyed running the race with my friends, and am happy that they were excited to run it also! Everyone did great, and pushed hard. I'm thankful for friends!

Official Time: 1:05:03

Distance: 6.2 miles

Pace: 10:28