“My Own 10K” Race Report

I’ve been training for a 10K over the past 5 weeks or so.  It is way too hot in ATL right now to sign up for any organized races. Most races don’t start until 8AM and that is just too late to start running.  My last race started at 7AM and even at that early hour it was 75 degrees and humid as all get out.  I decided to abandon all outdoor running for the summer season after that experience.

That presented a little problem when it came to my 10K day.  I run on the treadmill, but I don’t like it.  It isn’t natural.  My gait feels forced.  I’m either going too slow or too fast and I can’t seem to regulate myself in a natural way.  It just sucks but I deal with it because it is better than sweating like crazy in the hot and humid temps.  That said, the treadmill just wouldn’t do for race day so I ventured back outside.  The Silver Comet Trail opens at the sunrise and I planned to be there bright and early.  I don’t mind running in the early morning dark in my neighborhood, but I’m not running in the dark on tree-covered trail where a woman got snatched up and killed 5 years ago.  Sunrise it is.

It’s 6:30AM and the temperature gauge in my car reads 80 degrees already.  It is moist feeling outside.  Sigh.  I’m committed though.  I’m trained and I feel prepared and I’m ready to do this.  I get started with my usual .3 mile/5 minute warmup.  When I hit the .3 mile marker on the trail, I set my Polar watch for the race and I’m off!

I went into the race with a 1:04 base goal.  I was 100% sure I could do this.  My stretch goal was 1:02 and my reach goal was 1:00.  I figured with a little pushing, I could do the stretch goal and wrap up the race with 10 min miles.  My plan was to hold a 10 min mile pace for the first 4 miles and then just run without holding back for the last 2.2 miles.

Of course, I started too fast.  First mile done in 9:45.  Slow down!  Second mile done in 9:52.  Slow down more!  I think I stopped sweating it at this point because I found my running groove.  I miss running outside!  I swear a 9:52 on the treadmill feels so much harder than a 9:52 outdoors.  That’s why I was finding it hard to slow myself down.  The faster pace outdoors feels about the same as the slow pace indoors.  I know people say running outdoors is harder but that just isn’t the case for me.  Maybe because I have short legs?

Anyway, I focused on keeping my time in the 10:00 min/mile range and found my groove.  It is still hot and I’m sweating like crazy, but I feel strong.  I got to my turnaround point where your cross the street before the 4.2 mile Floyd Road stop.  That was 3.5 miles in for me.  I’m feeling a little tired at this point (the heat!), but I made a vow with myself to not walk until I’d done at least 4 miles of running.

The 4 mile mark came and went and “You Can’t Stop The Beat” from Hairspray came on.  Instead of taking my earned walk break, I felt good and kept running.  I abandoned my pace restrictions and just ran according to how I felt.  I didn’t stop running until Mile 5!  I had planned to take a .10 mile walk break, but I chugged some water, took a .05 mile break and kept it moving.  I slowed down again a little later taking another .05 mile break.  It was getting harder to focus and I really wanted to stop.  I played my head games and told myself I could walk again once Kelis’ “Milkshake” went off.  At that point, I only had .5 miles to go and Destiny’s Child was singing “Sexy Daddy” which is perfect for running so I really couldn’t stop!

I finished strong with no clue about my overall time.  I purposely keep my watch on the mileage and pace screen so that I don’t see the overall time and get discouraged.  I checked my watch and literally jumped up and down to see my overall time of 1:00:08.  I nearly hit my impossible to reach stretch goal!  My overall pace for the race was a 9:40 min/mile.  I couldn’t believe it!

**Whoomp there it is!  I rocked it out even in the hot weather!  I will continue to get faster and become a better runner than I was pre-pregnancy (once I lose some more weight LOL).  It is totally possible.

**I get tired of seeing “Woot!” all the time on fitness sites so I’m going back old school LOL.. Woot.com is a deal of the day website, you know?