The 10k

Our city held the Rock Island Greenway 10k and half marathon a couple of weeks ago, covering grass, asphalt, and trail. Kyle and I both ran the race – it was our first race together since the Warrior Dash in 2012 (pre-kids) and his first 10k ever. So, in other words…

We arrived at the race super early. I say super early because I mixed up the times of the races. The half marathon began at 7:30 a.m. — the 10k began at 8. So we froze. FROZE. Guys, I’m from Louisiana. I’m not all into standing impatiently this 40 degree morning weather.

But when the race finally began — oh, it was great! Racing invigorates my love for running. I can feel completely burned out from running, wondering why I would ever sign up and pay money to run, and then the event begins. And all those negative thoughts get pushed aside as I remember why I love racing. Running together with a large group of people, everyone cheering each other on, knowing that you’re running some long distance — it’s a great rush. And I love the individual competition for most individuals. I’m not trying to win a race. I’m competing against myself, no one else. So there’s a camaraderie with most runners. During the race, I had several people say, “You’re doing great! You’ve got great pace!” Well, well. Let me just deflate my head a bit so I can keep up that great pace.

I will say, though, I certainly felt my ill preparation for the race. I had spent most of my time inside running on a treadmill (#lazyrunner). I had the distance down, but I did not have the elevation. This race STARTED on a hill — not just any hill, either, but a hill I generally avoid in my own running routes because it is a beast. But that’s okay — the race had just started, my adrenaline was pumping, and I went slow. Slow is never really how you want to start a race, but it was necessary with that huge hill.

I usually will use the MapMyRun app when running so I can work on my pace, but my phone was a little squirrley that day, so I opted not to use the app, which actually messed with my time. Remember that awesome pace I had? Yeah, it was awesome — too much so. I generally will run a 10-minute mile. But I had a 5k pace of about 25 minutes — way, WAY too fast. And that definitely messed with me for the last three miles, which included  a one-mile upward hill (okay, okay, it was like half a mile…or at least a quarter mile — at any rate, it was awful).

My goal was to finish the 10k in under an hour — which would be hard but not impossible.

I finished the race at 58:34.

Despite the hills, the changing terrain, and my poor training, I still did it — I still finished the 10k in under 60 minutes. Definitely came close, but I succeeded and even finished sixth in my age group.

Kyle did great as well. For those of you who don’t know, my husband is a Type 1 diabetic. Running is a bit of a challenge for him because he has to watch that his blood sugar doesn’t bottom out during running. I was a bit nervous for him, but he completed the race with no problems.

And then to celebrate — well, we took a nap!