10K Race Recap
| February 7, 2011 | Posted by Carrie under #Febgtd, exercise goals, inspiration, Mamavation, Running |
I ran my first 10K yesterday. I seriously would not have thought a year ago that I could run a 10K, let alone enjoy it. And it was fun. It was a great event, there were tons of people dressed in costumes that provided a lot of entertainment. I think there were over 9,000 runners between the 5K, 10K and a 10K baby buggy race. Here’s my 10K Race Recap.
I woke up early and had some coffee and messed around on the computer for a few minutes as I normally do. Just as I was about to get dressed and head out, Dude woke up. Seriously? Sunday morning at 6:10, he decides to get up. So, I quickly got him breakfast and got him set up and went to get dressed. I made a quick bagel with peanut butter for the road and grabbed a banana to go, too.
Parking was not easy, so I ended up almost a mile away, but it was a nice way to walk. It was foggy and cold (by California standards). I found a few friends to chat with and cheered on some other friends who were doing the 5K. Then, I went and ran a bit of a warm up and stretched and ate my banana.
As we lined up for the race, I wasn’t nervous. I was surprised… at the last 5K I ran in October I was really nervous. I think I just knew that I had trained hard, I knew I could do this. The only question was how fast should I go.
I set my Run Keeper to have a target pace of 11:30, I had it notify me every 3 minutes of my pace. The first notification, I was going 8:30. Ooops. I slowed down. Here are my splits:
Mile 1: 10:44
Mile 2: 10:46
Mile 3: 10:18
Mile 4: 11:06
Mile 5: 10:45
Mile 6: 10:53
Final time on my clock 1:06:08. My chip time was 1:06:54.
Here’s what happened on mile 4:
Yes, I’m a total idiot. I fell. I had been running at the far right and all of a sudden, the people in front of me slowed down. I was feeling all wonderful and I stepped to the left to pass them.
Why was I drawn then to run down the paint? I don’t know. Well, a road dot must have jumped right out and tripped me. 
Down I went. Well, down I went after stumbling for 4-5 strides and trying desperately to maintain my balance. To no avail. Splat!!! (it looks a little worse in the picture than it really is, I have a scrape on my hand, too)
Everyone around was nice and asked if I was ok. I was only down for a second or two and I jumped up and started running again. For some reason my music stopped and I had to mess around with that and get my timer going again and all that. I kept running, but it was obviously slower.
I saw a few friends at the turn and that was fun. I really did keep busy just putting one foot in front of the other and watching the people coming and going on the other side of the road.
At some point during mile 4, I had a funky twinge behind my right knee. Not painful, but not normal. I slowed down a bit for a minute or two.
At the end of mile 5, we had a seriously gnarly hill. I ran (slowly) up the thing and then slowed at the top to recover. I grabbed water at that point, although I only took a sip because I didn’t want to walk. This is the first race that I haven’t walked at all. Score!
The twinge came back a few times and I knew it wasn’t good, so I slowed my stride when I felt it. I’m not really sure what I did to pass the time running. I really just enjoyed my surroundings and kept going. I don’t ever remember thinking that I wanted it to be over, I was just running. It felt fantastic.
I finished in a sea of people and felt like I really did push myself and leave everything out there on the course. I got some water and was texting my family the results and wandering around looking for people I knew. Somehow I managed to miss the food. I did make it to the beer tent and got my free beer. After finding a friend to chat with and having 3 sips of the beer, I tossed it. I’m sure that’ll horrify some of you reading . I eventually found the food with only bagels and pretzels left, but it sufficed.
Favorite costumes: the guy in a gorilla suit pushing a jogger stroller containing a speaker blasting music; grown up dalmation; a guy dressed as Jesus in the baby buggy race (his kid was dressed too, but I’m forgetting as what); the cast of Glee – one guy in a wheelchair, a cheerleader, etc. The best costumes were 5K’ers. A lot of 10Kers were in football jerseys, there were some tu-tus and hippie ish people.
Here’s a picture from before the race
I was also supposed to meet another friend to go out to brunch after, but I never found her so I packed up and went home. I was really tired. Both of my thighs were tired. Each muscle in them all the way around are tired. I could have probably napped all afternoon.
But, since I’m a mom, I came home and did 4 loads of laundry. Dancing Girl wasn’t feeling well, so we canceled our Super Bowl plans and stayed home. I made some fresh guacamole and we had tons of veggies and Mr. Math Teacher grilled burgers. I folded laundry and watched the game. If only the Packers had scored a touchdown that last drive instead of a field goal, Mr. Math Teacher would have won his pool. Bummer.
Happy Mamavation Monday to everyone whose visiting from Bookieboo. I hope you all have a wonderful week.
I’m starting out Monday with a hot stone massage I’ve been hanging on to a gift certificate and felt it was a perfect reward for my race. I’m so excited. I’ll get back to the gym on Wednesday and work on some cross training this week. I’m not sure how and when to start running again, I guess my body will tell me, right? That twinge behind my knee isn’t really hurting, but it’s like a shadow of something going on back there.
Next up – the Susan G. Komen 5K Race for the Cure the first weekend in March. It’s at Dodger Stadium, so it’ll be really hilly. It freaks me out to think “5K, I got that.”
Those road bumps can be vicious! I’m glad your fall didn’t hamper your run too much. And…congrats on running the entire way!! That is awesome! Good luck on your SGK 5K!
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Congrats on your 10K success! So cool that even having a spill, your were up and still running. Awesome. Thank goodness you were not really hurt, but the bruise does look gnarly.
Sounds like a fine Super Bowl party! Home with family is not a bad place to be. Have a great week and I look forward to reading about your next running adventure!
Andrea Kruse (@notimeMom) recently posted..Mamavation Monday Its not You- Its Me
You got a Gold Star in my book between the 10K and laundry and everything else. Such a great week already? Yay! You are super mom!
Lena B recently posted..Mamavation Monday – Week 4
Wow! congrats on your run. I’m running my first 5K next month and I’m pretty excited about it.
That injury looks painful! Hope you’re feeling better!
Woohoo!! Awesome recap!! One tough lady!
That Run Keeper sounds interesting. I wonder if my Garmin does that pacing thing where it tells you, but it says the whole time how fast you’re going. Great idea!
I wouldn’t be able to drink a beer after running either!
Looking forward to the recap in March!
Wow, a 10k plus 4 loads of laundry in one day? You’re super mom in my book! I’m making it one of my long term goals to do a 5k.
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wow! y goal is a 5k in july I am exctied yet so scared you are rocking it!
Congrats on your 10K! Sorry about that nasty bruising. Enjoy your recovery.
Congrats Carrie!! All your training and hard work obviously paid off. Happy to hear it went so well!! You’re going to rock that 5K
I was also supposed to run my first 10K on Sunday, but it got cancelled because of weather and the street/sidewalk conditions. That’s what I get for living in the Northeast! I was bummed, but now I’ll just have to schedule another one
Hope your knee is feeling ok. I bet the massage is exactly what you needed!
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Great 10K, and great write-up!
I always have a hard time starting out too fast in races – great idea to use the RunKeeper to keep your pace on target.
Sorry about the fall – at least it wasn’t too bad.
And, LOL on the laundry!
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