10k Race Recap

I'm pretty sure 10k's are not my thing. On Saturday I ran the Jesse Owens Memorial 10k.  My first 10k. My goal time was 50:00.  My actual time 56:16.  Some how I actually placed 3rd in my age group.  The only thing I can figure is that every one else had as bad of a run as I did.
•••••••••••
The race was set to start at  8am and by 7:30am it was already 80 degrees with 90% humidity.  You could see the humidity in the air it was so thick.  I was a little jealous that most of the guys could run without shirts. I wore my black running skirt from Skirt Sports and a pink Nike tank and was sweating before I even started running.
 At 7:45 I did a .5 mile warm up, made a quick potty break and headed to the start line.
I started off strong and logged 8:10 for the first mile, 8:29 for the second mile, at mile 3 I started to feel a little yucky....that's the only word I can use to describe it.  The course was in full sun, my energy started to wane, and my legs started to get heavy.  Mile 3 was 8:47. That is when it turned into a full on mental battle.  I have never wanted to quit a race so bad. Actually, I didn't just want to quit, I wanted to lay down in the fetal position on the side of the road. Mile 4 was 9:10.  Thankfully, my friend Kelly passed me as she passed me I told her that I felt like I had hit a wall. She stayed about 20 paces in front of me for the next two miles and kept checking in with me and encouraging me. Mile 5 was a painful 9:48. A few times I got cold chills and felt like I could pass out if I pushed any harder.  I kept telling myself to suck it up and to quit being such a baby. After all I've run half marathons! I'm a runner for goodness sake!  I do 6 mile runs for fun!
It makes me laugh now to think about it.  I was so frustrated while I was running and the more frustrated I got the worse I ran.  At one point I thought about throwing my Garmin into the woods, like it was Garmin's fault I was sucking so bad.  I think I had a case of Runner's Road Rage. LOL!
Anyway, mile 6 was 9:28. Walking to the finished seemed like a good idea until I saw Jon.  Jon is Kelly's husband and also an Ultra-marathon runner. He finished this same 10k in 36 minutes! At mile marker 6 Jon met me and ran with me to the finish line.  The last .2 was on a high school track. Right before we hit the track Jon said "When you get to the track you turn into a sprinter."   I think I muttered something like "ummhmmff"  It took me 2:26 mins to run .27miles.....not exactly sprinting.
I have never been so happy to cross a finish line so I could stop running.
I guess I thought it would be an easy race.  That was my mistake.  I train for 5ks and I train for half marathons, but I have never trained for a 10k.  I've never learned to pace for a 10k.  In a half marathon by mile 6 I'm getting into my groove, I was never able to get into a groove at this race. 
I can't say that I will never run a 10k again, but if I do, I will be trained up.
 •••••••••••••••

Tomorrow I will again be running a 10k. This one is bound to be more fun....The Rock Your Socks 10k is a virtual 10k or Half Marathon hosted by Racing with Babes.  

This Saturday is the P.C.R.A. 5k.  It is also the No Boundaries 5k graduation run!! YaY!! I'm so proud of all the runners, it is amazing to see how far they have all come.  All 55 runners can finish a 5k in under an hour which is amazing considering it took some of them an hour to finish 2 miles when we started.  I will be running with the group to help them cross the finish line and then I will be running the 1 mile fun run with my boys.

Saturday is also my birthday! I love Birthdays! I will be 32 years wise! Hubby has to work so I will spend the day with my boys and then my girls are taking me to dinner. 

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend! 

Grace and peace,

•••••••••••••••