Sweetheart 10K

…so I just realized that I never posted about my Valentine’s Day race…hope you don’t mind that it’s two weeks late!

When I woke up on Sunday morning ready to have my coffee and rice cake pre-race meal I was shocked to find that it was snowing!

I’ve never ran a race (or any type of run) in snow before. There was a tiny minute there when I almost said screw it…but I’d already paid for my race fee and I really wanted to try and PR this 10k. So drink my coffee and eat my peanut butter I did.

When I got to the start line I was freezing my booty off! It had stopped snowing but the huge gray blanket of cold was covering the sky totally blocking out the sun. I stood at the start line bouncing around just trying to keep my body warm and the blood moving.

Finally the race organizer came up to the line, explained our route, and held up the horn.

My first few minutes of the race were extremely hard. My lungs were breathing in sharp cold air and my legs felt like they were frozen. 

I told myself to just hang in there, in a few minutes my body would be warm again. It took a little longer than a few minutes. But close to mile 1 I started feeling better.

The route was actually quite serene and gorgeous. We ran along the Rio Grande River, which in Albuquerque we call the Bosque. Tons of trees to look at and get lost in.

If you look at them long enough they actually look kind of creepy.

By Mile 3 is was really hitting my stride. Actually I was running a little faster than I normally do. I didn’t want to jinx myself, so I only looked at my Garmin when I was coming up on the mile markers.

Sometimes if I check my Garmin too much while I’m running it starts to wear on my mind and actually makes me start to drag a little.

When the chime for Mile 4 went off, I looked down and saw an 8:18 pace! WHOA!! I was in shock. My usual pace is anywhere from 8:45 to 9:10.

Maybe the cold weather was helping!

I felt incredible. I was so tuned in to my run that I didn’t even realize that I was already passing Mile 5.

This is where I started playing my game. I spot someone ahead of me, zero in on them, and make it my goal to pass them.

I was able to successfully pass three people ahead of me by doing this. And it felt good!!

A quarter mile away from the finish I kicked myself in to high gear. I wanted this PR and I wanted it bad.

I could feel my legs sprinting. I don’t think I’ve ever run so fast. I could finally see the race clock and the big blow up finish line arch. I pumped harder and faster. I felt like I was practically holding my breath as I blew through the line…

…taking the last second to look up at the race clock.

51:32!!!!!

I was the new owner of a 10k PR!!

 

 

Here’s my race splits

Mile 1: 8:43
Mile 2: 8:34
Mile 3: 8:27
Mile 4: 8:18
Mile 5: 8:19
Mile 6: 8:00

Total Miles 6.1 Total Time 51:32