10k report

well hey, a race report from me! cool!

lets see here where do i start. hmmmm. this is going to be a little long because hey! its my first ever race report. which is just so cool i have to say. woohoo!

first off, as predicted: the worst night of sleep in a really long time on fri night. i tried to trick myself into thinking i was really tired but that didn't work. toss, turn; toss, turn. repeat. heh.

in the morning i had a banana and 2 packs of these gummi fruit snack things (80 calories each). they are so addictive. as i type this, all 10 packs are gone already. i bought them late yesterday afternoon. mmmmm! oh yeah, i also had one akmak cracker. i realized this morning that i had no other carbs in the apartment (are you surprised?). or i would have had some oatmeal or maybe a bagel or something.

very nervous on the drive over. playing eminem and metallica loudly. psyching myself up. i arrive at 8.30am or so (race at 9.30). temperature is in the high 30's / low 40's. freakin' cold. i have on shorts, a thin t-shirt and then a regular t-shirt over that. brrrr. after sitting in the car for a while in the parking lot listening to more tunes, i finally get on a bus. it takes us to the race.

i check a few things at the bag-check and then i find another pin for my bib. i lost one pin last night, which is totally normal-- i lose stuff all the time. so things are going right on schedule.

the energy around the grounds is awesome. all of these runners gathered in one place to run. how cool is this! everybody is in a good mood and we are so excited to be running with a chip on our shoes and bibs on our chest. its the best thing ever. i mingle around and then i run around a little bit to stay loose.

soon, the time comes. we line up. we wait. we chat with hot girls. we forget to remember their bib #. then, the guns goes off. we wait some more. it felt like an amusement park ride. you wait, you wait, all of a sudden you are walking then you are jogging and then SWEET! we gain some momentum and cross the mats in stride, and it is so fricking exciting.

you know what? i think i started out too slow. i'm kind of pissed about it now. but this is my first race so i didn't really know what i was doing. mile one: the guy reads off: 13:23!!! what the son of a, you can't be serious. i bolt ahead like track star. soon i realize it took a while to get to the starting mat so 13+ is not my real pace. slow back down a little (still too slow though).

i'm not one to revel in the struggles of those less fortunate. but there is something really magical about breathing easy and passing skinny people that are winded. its just...magical. there were hills in this race. and i took those hills with the biggest grin on my face. it was great. i love hills, i love running, i love it all.

i picked up the pace a little in mile 2, slowed a little during 3 (big fun hill), then negative splits the rest of the way. i should have been running faster the whole time. next year! i was breathing quite easy and feeling really good for the first several miles. reflecting back on it now, i realize i was simply running too slow.

i'm so glad i found you rbf'ers and other runners and exercising people out there in blogland because never in my life would i have thought about running in an organized race without your inspiration. i'd still be running 3 miles at a time and wondering if i should move to 4 miles soon. so thanks for all of your support and all of your own hard work that also inspires me daily. and thanks to my mom and sister, some of my biggest supporters, who were at the water stop to cheer me on. it was great!!

chip time-- 1:00:04 (average pace 9:40?). son of a biscuit, i was so close to under an hour. 4 seconds, come on. i'm pissed! really pissed. but i'll get it the next time around.

the splits from my polar (which don't line up with the total chip time but whatever):
1. 10:00
2. 9:33
3. 9:54
4. 9:39
5: 9:15
6: 9:03
0.2. 1:42 i think.

now excuse me, i must go find more races to sign up for PRONTO!

(oh by the way, its official. i signed up before the 10k).

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