Another Runner's Journey: It's Starting to Feel Like Fall!!

This weekend I had two races. Although I love racing, it kinda sucks waking up early two days in a row.

My first race for the weekend was a run I had planned with my friend N. She is slowly starting to get back into 5Ks and wanted someone to run the race with. I love being there to support my friends during 5Ks so of course I was more than happy to sign up. Another fun bonus about this 5K was that it was 80s themed so N and I got to buy some fun stuff to dress up.

When I woke up Saturday I was so excited (and super tired lol). The weather was absolutely beautiful and it was actually pretty chilly. I went over to N's house and we headed over to the race. We met up with the group we were running the race with (it was her boyfriend's gym) and took some group pictures before heading out. Before we started the race, we agreed to keep a 2 minute run/1 minute walk interval. Once the race started, we started to follow the 2:1 interval I set up on my Garmin (N's Garmin went haywire and froze up causing it to have a shrilling beep the whole run - yes, it sucked lol).. As we approached the end, I could see she was tired, but she kept going. I don't even know if she realized how proud of her I was.

N had gone through a bunch of knee issues (it's a long story) and is still recovering from it. Her knee started swelling up at the end, but she powered through it. I know she was frustrated with the run, but she shouldn't be. It's hard to come back from any injury, but especially one like hers. For now, it's all about coming back, but slowly. I think as runners, we want to come back to the exact running level we were in before being injured/taking time off/etc... Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that. Instead we need to fight harder, and work harder. I know in time she'll be back to where she was, but it's going to take some tough runs. I'm hoping I can be there for her when she needs me.

Ok, enough sappiness :) Here is one of the pictures from the run:

Now, Sunday's race was different. I was on a mission: to PR in the 10K. I had only done a couple of 10Ks, and figured I could do pretty well on this race based on my last couple of weeks of training. I had run in this race before, but this time it was double the size it was before. I knew the weather would be pristine, and when I woke up I was right - it was nice, cool, and breezy. I was a little nervous about my body because I've been having pains in my knees and heels this past week. I think because I've upped my mileage recently and continued to train harder with weights, it was my body's way of telling me to slow down.

I got to the race early, and started listening to my music to focus. I ran into my friend P from run club as I walked around the venue to warm up. P and I run about the same pace, so he stuck around with me until the race started. I almost always start in the back for every race because I like to chase everyone once the race starts; it's almost like how horses chase the rabbit when they are racing. P had never started from the back, and after the race he admitted that he liked my strategy.

Once the race started, I shot towards the front. The race had over 1000 people in it and there were some fast runners there who were looking to win prize money. I started fast, but figured I could keep pace. Mile by mile I started closing the gap between myself and the front pack. By the last mile, I had made up a lot of ground, and knew I would at least place in my age group. P had stayed with me pretty much the whole way until mile 4.5, where he dropped back a little. It was nice to have someone to take down racers with me; it kept me motivated.

My goal was under 49 minutes (right under an 8 min/mile). As I looked at my watch I knew I would beat that goal by more than a minute. During the last mile, I pushed it and passed some of the girls who I knew would try to gun for me at the end. As I rounded the corner for the last 0.2 miles, I saw one of the girls coming up right in front of me, and heard another girl grunting to pass me. There was no way in hell I was letting that happen so I turned up the heat and ended up passing her. The crowd went nuts lol; it was pretty epic. When I saw the clock I couldn't believe it. I saw my friend A from run club while I was on the course and since he finished right before I did, I went to say hi. P had come up as we were talking and we all high-fived each other. Once we said our hellos, we went to check out our time.

So official time: 46:31 - 7:30 min/mile pace. Holy crap. I couldn't freaking believe it. Not only did I place first in my age group, I ended up coming in 10th female overall. What?!?!?!! It's a crazy concept to think I ran that fast. It's hard to maintain a pace like that, but I truly believe that you can do anything you set your mind to. What's funny is that I barely looked at my Garmin. I knew that I was pushing as hard as I could, and by looking at the Garmin, I would try to adjust my pace somehow which could have ruined my race. So lesson of the day: let your body guide you to your pace during a race. I'm sore as hell but I figured that would happen, I've napped a lot today to recover.

Race Report: The Flannigans 10K race was awesome from the get-go. My race packet was the best one I have ever gotten - it was full of so many thing I would use, it was unbelievable. The venue was awesome and the time of year makes the temperature perfect! The racers were great; it held everything from the super fast runners to the novice 5K runners. The prizes were awesome! First place in the age groups got cool gear from Newton. I'm actually considering buying my next pair of running shoes from Newton because of it. And, last but not least, it was one of the biggest races in our community. I'm hoping that this race continues to get bigger and bigger. We'll see!

Before I go, I'll leave you with some pictures: