My First 10K

Well I did it! I finished my first 10K race on July 4th. My first official 6.2 miles.


My main goal was just to finish in under an hour. That means I'd have to run just a little faster than 10 min per mile, or 6 mph. Which was completely in line with how my training was going but ultimately, I really wanted to finish closer to 55 minutes.

I did meet my main goal. The time they called as I was crossing the finish line was 59:07. Yes!!!!












The run was not easy at all. I got up early enough to eat something and let it settle, to use the bathroom, and get up to the run in time to get my goody bag- bib, t-shirt (most important!), flyers for other upcoming runs, and free water bottle!

I think my downfall was grabbing a banana that morning. I wanted something quick and easy, but it was not easy on my stomach. Eating it an hour before running I figured would give it time to digest. But about a half mile into the run I could feel that stupid banana sitting in my stomach.


Ugh.


It was a pretty warm morning, the run started at 8:30am. My GPS watch did not catch a signal in time for the race to start, so it was about .15 miles off the entire time.

Despite the banana, I did pretty well until about mile 4-5.The course went out on country roads, then turned around and came back. The turn around was not good. The sun was in front of you at that point. There were no clouds in the sky, so I felt the sun sapping my energy. There were a couple rolling hills too, and so by mile 4 my legs felt like they were trudging through molasses.


I wanted to walk SO bad but I felt like I had my husband on one shoulder and Jillian Michaels on the other. He was saying- Don't you dare start walking, keep running!! And she was saying- Unless you faint, puke, or die, keep moving!!



In the end, I made it without walking. According to my GPS watch, my mile times were as follows:

Mile 1- 9:19
Mile 2- 9:28
Mile 3- 9:37
Mile 4- 9:43
Mile 5- 10:12
Mile 6- 9:33


You can see I got slower and slower. I definitely felt drained of energy, and for that I blame the banana. I gotta remember- stick with what you know works! Usually I eat a bowl of cereal or an english muffin with peanut butter in the morning before running or working out.







At the end of the day, I'm pretty proud of myself. I want to give a shout out to my mom and husband for being there at the race to support me. They got up early and hung out in the heat for an hour waiting for me to finish.

I have my sights set on completing a couple more 10Ks this year, and moving on up to a half marathon. I also want to complete a mud run soon too!!