Sorry I haven't been great about writing this past week...things have been crazy busy at our household! Most of my training has been the same as the weeks before but I want to write about my experience running the 10K this Sunday.
First of all let me start off by explaining the day before the race. Saturday I had to attend a baby shower and then hurry off to tape a wedding all afternoon and night. We didn't get home until midnight and didn't get to bed until 1 am. I was on my feet all day and was wiped out. The race started at 7:15 am but we had to park a mile away so we got up at 5 in the morning giving us enough time to get ourselves and the girls ready to leave by 6. The night before Jeff and my mom were giving me a hard time about taking the girls due to the fact that we'd be leaving so early in the morning. I started to wonder if it was a bad idea but I had already signed Ava up for a toddler run and just thought it'd be a good family event to go to. Luckily the girls were wonderful getting up and ready!
Ok so now the 10K. My in-my-dreams goal was to finish in 55 minutes but I was going to be happy with anything under 60 minutes. I decided after a couple of discouraging workouts that I was just going to take it easy and not push it too hard, especially in the beginning. I didn't want to make the mistake of starting out too strong and paying for it later. The whole event was women only and there were so many women! It was amazing! Women of every age, size, and athletic ability. The first part of the race was so cool. As far as I could see in front and behind me were women running. It was just awesome to be a part of it all. I knew to finish in 55 minutes that I had to average a 8:40 pace. I just ran without thinking about "racing" and somehow every mile marker I'd glance at my watch and I was on pace. About half way through the race I thought, hmmm...maybe I'll actually get close to 55 minutes. And when I hit mile marker 6 at about 50 minutes I about died. The last stretch of the race was a very long, steep, killer of a hill. At the top of the hill I saw Jeff and Ava and that gave me the strength to finish strong. As I passed I yelled out to Jeff that I was at 50 minutes and just started laughing that I was actually going to finish before my goal time. The finish area was real confusing and crowded so I actually slowed down a bit to figure out where the finish line was. Once I spotted it, I picked it up, quickly waved at my mom and Grace, and dashed across the finish line. However, I forgot to stop my watch and look at my finish time! I guessed I finished in 53 minutes and was on cloud nine!
After the race we attended the family festival which was so much fun. There were playgrounds, tons of venders, activies, free food and drinks! Ava played on a playground for a bit and then we headed to the pony rides. I didn't think Ava would actually get on since she's so stinking shy but sure enough she got right on! Seeing her on that horse made it so worth getting her up early! Then we headed over to Ava's race. She was getting pretty tired by now so I was worried that she wouldn't want to run. But again she proved my wrong. There were sooooo many 2-3 year olds running! It was so cute! She ran the whole way with her mouth open because she was so excited! Of course I was there cheering and videoing the whole thing! She got a goody bag and a medal that she wore proudly the rest of the day.
All in all, it was one of the best running experiences I've ever had and a great, fun morning with my family. I strongly recommend any woman reading this in the area to do the Ladys Distance next year. I know I will be!
Oh, by the way, today they posted the race results and I finished in 52:13. I was 8th in my age group (out of 51) and 61 st overall (out of 350).
Here are some pics of the day:
Ava and I before the race
After the race
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