I Raced the 10K After All

Well I heeded the good advice of everybody and I took Friday and Saturday off from any running or cross training. I caught up on sleep, ate healthy, drank a lot of OJ, ate a ton of oranges, spinach, broccoli, drank Airborne, slept some more, rolled on the foam roller and stretched.

I woke up feeling great this morning so my hubby and I rounded up the kids and off we went to the race. It was a 1-1/2 hour drive and we got there with about 30 minutes to spare. After checking in I ran 1.5 miles on the track near the start line, throwing in 4 x 100 strides at goal race pace (7:05/mile). I could hear the liquid sloshing around in my belly and started to feel side stitches. Not good. I fought back the negative thoughts as much as I could and with 5 minutes to go I made my way to the starting area.

I was so excited to race! It was about 55-degrees, sunny, gorgeous, everybody had a smile on their face. I looked around and smiled at everyone and told myself just to go for it. Air horn goes off and off we all go. It was a crowded start and I actually felt elbows today. I actually used my elbows too.

Mile 1: 6:49. Too fast. Brought back memories of the 5K race in January where I bonked at the end. I shook my head and slowed down. Good news, no more sloshing going on in my belly.

Mile 2: 7:18. What the ??? Too slow! I started to think I made a mistake by racing today. I was actually pissed at this point. Disappointed in myself. I picked up the pace and was coming up on a group of 5 young men probably in their late teens. They were part of a triathlon club. I hung behind them for about a minute then I felt the need to move on so I passed them and never saw them again.

Mile 3: 6:58. Now this is it! Felt good. Positive thoughts. Started counting down saying only 3.2 to go. No sweat. I passed another male runner.

Mile 4: 7:04. Okay so I began to sweat (stress). I started to repeat my race mantras: "Hold your form." "Find your breath." "This feels good." "Just like the workouts." The Avril Lavigne song, "Keep holdin' on, we're gonna make it through, make it through..." kept running through my head. It worked! I passed yet another male runner who I remember passed me after the first mile. But rats, a different male runner caught us both and passed me too!

Mile 5: 6:54. I was starting to breath heavy. I thought about what Bannister had said about this God awful noise he'd make when trying to breath during his 1-mile races. I thought, "I must sound like that because I sound like sh*t!" I got mad again and repeated my mantras, and kept singing Avril Lavigne. I was HURTING. Breathing very hard. I didn't pass anymore runners, and did not get passed again.

Mile 6: 7:07. Thank GOD just .2 miles to go. I could see the finish area. I say area because there were no lines, just a bunch of orange cones forming a chute with the clock propped up on a car parked halfway up the cones. There was one male within 20 feet of me and I wanted to pass him so badly. I ran as hard as I could thinking about strides. I was breathing like I was about to die and I'm sure he heard me because he picked up the pace. I chased him but he got to the cones a few seconds ahead of me.

Mile 6-6.2: 1:10 split. Finish time of 43:20 (6:58 pace). I was elated when I saw that clock! I had planned on finishing in 44:00 but desperately wanted 43:30. I beat my ultimate goal time by 10 seconds.

I was 3rd female finisher overall.
I was 3rd place in my age group 30-39 (behind the top 2 female finishers overall).
1st female finished in 37:something.
2nd female finished in 42:something. I'll try to catch her next time. :)

I cooled down with a 3/4 mile jog.

The McMillan calculator I use translates my 10K finish to a 3:23:22 marathon. My 8K finish time of 34:46 translates to a 3:25:38 marathon. I've decided to go for a Boston Marathon finish time of 3:29-3:30. Barring any unforeseen circumstances like weather or illness, I think I can do it. At least I'll do the best I can with what God gave me and the rest is up to Him.

Later at 4:00 p.m. I decided to run 5.5 miles for recovery, and to bring my total for the day up to 13.95 (13 was scheduled).
WEEKLY TOTAL: 32.45