Tales from my first 10k

Official Mission:  Finish the hilly 6.2 miles in under an hour.  My goal was 59 minutes and 59 seconds.

Unofficial Mission:  Beat the pink girls that were running in front of me.  There were two girls that were in front of me most of the race, dressed in matchy matchy pink.  Pink shoes, pink running shorts and pink headbands.  They also had make up on, they looked cute the whole race, and they certainly weren't red in the face like I was at the end ... and because I need something for my brain to do while I run, I decided that I needed to beat them.   But more on that later. 

Because I am a crazy person and even the thought of being late gives me stomach cramps, I left the house at 6:55 am for a race that is 5 minutes from my house and that started at 7:30 am.  You just never know if there will be a parking problem or you'll get lost or have to pee, or there will be an accident and a 20 minute detour.  So I got there at 7:00 with 30 minutes to spare.  And surprisingly, I was not the first person there. :)

One of the best parts of this race ... it was on a community college campus and we got to use the bathrooms inside, no port a potty, yippee!  So, I went to the bathroom ... twice ... did a little light jogging around the parking lot and then listened to my ipod.

At 10 minutes till race time, they had us line up.  At this point, I realized this was a relatively small race (Yea!) ... 274 people ran.  I line up near the back for several reasons. 

1.  I hate crowds and need my space. 
2.  Being passed by lots of people is mentally defeating, I need to be the passer, not the passee
3.  I hate crowds.
4.  I have a hard time pacing myself during a race and didn't want to get caught up trying to keep up with someone who was running a 7 minute mile and burnout before I was halfway done.
5.  I hate crowds.

So lined up near the back.  The crowd kinda mobbed together after the starting siren (siren?  really?  I thought that was weird, don't they use guns anymore??).  Didn't get to start running until a few paces after the official start gate when there was enough space.

Mile 0 - 0.5:  Crowded, crowded, crowded.  Get out of my way people.  Maybe starting so far back wasn't a great idea. 

Mile .5 to 1:  Shoulder doing a weird seize up thing.  In a bit of pain.  Uh, am I going to have to quit before I even hit a mile?  Hell no, keep going.  Also, realize that this course is going to be hillier than I thought.  Flat to rolling my ass.  Notice the pink girls for the first time.  Whose hair is that perfect all the time?  They are a bit of a distance in front of me, but seriously, not a hair out of place.  I decided I want to beat them for all of us that look like we just rolled out of bed and didn't think to color co-ordinate our headbands to our shoes.
 
Mile 1 to 2:  Literally running in a circle.  We just went back through the starting gate and are headed to the dreaded hill I call "The Beast".  Shoulder pain is gone, still moving pretty good.  Breathing is nice and even.  Pink girls pulling ahead, may not be able to catch them.  The map my run app lady has been announcing my times and thus far averaging under a 9:30/mile avg. 

Mile 2 to 3:  Hills, hills, hills.  Or rather, just one big hill.  I have practiced this hill prior to the race.  So I knew what I was in for.  Up to this point, I have been able to run all the way to the peak, but have always had to take about a 10 second break to catch my breath at the top.  Not today - kept going.  Noticing others struggling with the hill.  Happy that I practiced it.  Pulled closer to the pink girls.  Also noticed that I am surrounded by redheads.  Weird.  Two women and a man.  Also, as a funny side note, as I started the hill, Eye of the Tiger came on the ipod.  I kid you not, I totally felt like Rocky! (why I have Eye of the Tiger on the Ipod is whole other post).

Mile 3 to 4:  One really steep decline followed by another incline.  I have ditched the redheads, left them in my dust.  My next target is serious runner guy.  He has all kinds of running gear - a fancy watch, the hydration belt, a running hat.  He definitely looks like he can run.  But I pass him anyway.  Closing in on the pinks. 

Mile 4 to 5:  Really got into my groove and this is probably my strongest mile of the race.  It is flat, which has definitely helped.  Breathing is good, the music is getting my feet moving and I am able to pass quite a few people here.  But the pinks seem to be having an equally good mile and while I am gaining, I still haven't quite caught them.  Starting to think it may not be possible. 

Mile 5 to 6:  Ugh.  As good as the last mile was, this one was a little bit more of a struggle.  The sun has really come out, so it is a bit warmer, which I hate.  But, I am glad that I put sunscreen on this morning, one less thing to worry about.  The group has really thinned out.  At about 5.5 miles, the mascot for the community college is out in the street dancing and high 5ing people.  Don't ask me why, but this somehow gives me a little spring in my step and I pick it back up.  Go me!  I can visualize the finish line at this point.  I can't see it, but I know it is close.  Let's move it feet.  And that my friends, is when I pass the pinks.  Thanks to the motivation by some guy dressed in a tiger suit.  Right near the 6 mile mark.  Wahoo! 

Mile 6 to 6.2:  There is another slight incline up the parking lot to the finish line.  I round the corner to see the clock say 59:17.  Heck yea, I am going to make it -- I sprinted to the finish line and passed it at a clock time of 59:24 ... Official finish time of 59:04!  So awesome to have made it under an hour!

That's my story.  I did it.  And really I wish the Pinks no ill will, I just needed a target and they were it.  If anything they helped get me through the race and I owe them a big thank you for keeping me motivated.

Next week I have a 5k which seems like a piece of cake now.  It is on Cinco de Mayo and they are encouraging people to dress up ... but somehow I am not thinking sombreros are very aerodynamic?!? 

Hallie