Last week I mentioned that I had entered my first 10km race. As promised, I wanted to share my results and how it went down from start to finish….line! My initial goal was to finish in 55 minutes, but after a few test runs I realized 57 would be more realistic. How’d I do? Read on to find out…
I woke up early on Sunday feeling refreshed from a good night’s sleep (going to bed early with Netflix on a Saturday night pays off!) For breakfast, I stuck to my favourite pre-run meal: two slices of Ezikiel bread toasted with peanut butter and coconut butter (the best combo ever!) and a handful of strawberries.
Next, I made sure I had everything ready to go: water mixed with Vega Sport Energizer (I swear by this stuff!), phone, headphones, Mio Alpha heart rate monitor, hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, change of clothes and post-race snack.
My husband and I made the short drive to Gyro Park and got there about 40 minutes before the 9:00am start time. As soon as I arrived I could feel the energy. Trail is a small town and this fun run is part of our annual Silver City Days. It’s a small race, about 300 people but it is very well organized by an amazing group of volunteers. It consisted of a 5km walk/run and 10km run. There was quite a mix of people from young to old to families with strollers.
I pre-registered so jumped in the line and picked up my number. I had time to stretch and do a little jog to get the blood moving. It was a gorgeous day. It started out cool but I knew it was going to be hot after we got around the shaded mountain side. They were calling for +25°C that day.After a quick pee break it was time to line up. Since it’s a small race, there is no corral, everyone just finds a spot. I was a few rows back as I knew I wasn’t going to be at the head of the pack. I got my music started and RunKeeper app ready and synced to my Mio Alpha heart rate monitor so all I had to do was press the button (or so I thought).
“Bang” goes the gun and we’re off!
It only took the first kilometer before people started spreading out. That’s when I noticed I didn’t get my update from RunKeeper through my headphones. I didn’t press the button! OK. Frustration sets in. I rely on the app to give me updates and coaching throughout my runs. I find it really motivates me and now I was going on without it. Yes, I could have stopped and taken my phone out of my arm strap and fiddled with it and got it started. But I didn’t want to stop, I didn’t want to slow down. I did have my Mio Alpha which keeps my pace but it’s in miles and I wasn’t sure of the conversion. So I went forth blindly, although I did end up checking my watch every kilometer and doing the math in my head.
My pace was going pretty good. I got to 5 km at around 27:30. I was feeling great and then the heat set in. The 6 and 7 km point was a struggle for me but once I hit 8 km I knew I had to push it those last 2 km. I really wish I had turned on my RunKeeper so I could have checked my pace afterwards – ah well, you live and you learn!
The crowd and volunteers were great, cheering you on the whole time. It was fabulous! I crossed the finish line just as the clock hit 58 minutes, 58:03 to be exact. I finished 9th out of 12 women in my age group.
No, I didn’t hit my goal. Was I disappointed? At first, yes. I’m always too hard on myself – I can’t help it, that’s just my competitive nature. But after talking to my running friends they made me realize that it was a really good finish for my first 10km.
All in all, it was a fabulous day. I had amazing support from my family, friends (shout out to S. Dawson xo) and most importantly, my husband who is my biggest cheerleader, photographer, motivator and holder-of-stuff. I’m so lucky I had him with me that day.
So now what? Well like my friend warned me, I’m totally hooked! I’m considering a half marathon in September. Stay tuned!
So Proud! You did an amazing job! xo
Awww thanks hunny! You’re the best xoxo
[…] While I have grown to love like running, I still don’t consider myself a runner. Over the years I have gradually increased my distance and pace just to see how far I could push myself. Up until I decided to do this race, I had only been running twice a week. One long run, anywhere from 10-14km and a short one mid-week or a few 20 minute treadmill runs at the gym before strength training. These past two weeks I have added a few more runs to see if I can get my pace up. I do have a goal in mind but I’m not going to share it just yet as I am really superstitious and fear that if I write it down it might not happen! I promise I’ll share it in my recap post. […]
Well done Myra! Congrats! 🙂
Thank you Cris ☺