St. Leo 10K Race Report

As per usual, starting writing this on Saturday but got interrupted one bazillion times by Gabe & Asher, so it’s now Sunday.

Today’s race was glorious.  Not because I got a PR (50:22, whoop!), and not because I got 1st in my age group–although that felt amazing too.

The glory came in proving to myself that I can overcome challenges–because this week had plenty–and my confidence needed the boost from today, for sure.

So the Cliff’s Notes version of my previous post: it was a very difficult week on all fronts.  Work sucked.  I felt exhausted.  My race prep did not go as planned.

But life goes on.  It’s how we respond to life’s challenges that defines us.  We are what we repeatedly do–when things get tough.  <– Seriously, watch that video, it fires me up!

This morning {Saturday, March 21–finishing this post on Sunday, because of course: kids, tired, etc}, slept in til 7–oh thank you Lord (and kids!) for that.  Had to shower because I like to do a “good luck” shave so my legs look nice, haha.  I ate half a banana and half a bagel, with some G2 purple Gatorade.  That’s all I dared eat given yesterday’s troubles.  I brought two GU packets, one for 15 min prior to race time, and one for during the race.  I’ve read that runs under an hour don’t need fuel, but I knew if I was going to race my best, I would need some fuel during the race.  So I packed the GU in my new Fitletics belt, recommended by one of my fellow running buddies, with 8 oz of Gatorade to wash it down.  I figured I’d be one of the few people out there wearing a fuel belt for a 10K but whatev… I don’t really care.  It was the final race prior to my half, so if anything, I was simulating the race and trying out my belt.

I had to do some serious ‘backwards planning’ to make sure I’d get to the race on time.  Since I couldn’t find anyone to watch the boys, I paid the YMCA fee ($27–almost as much as the race fee of $30… ugh) for the “Drop & Shop” option: 2.5 hours away from the kids.  The Y’s child watch has been great for me to get workouts in, but it doesn’t open til 8:30.  Race time was at 9.  In Winston-Salem, a good 20 min from the Y.  So I got us all ready with 10 min to spare, and we headed to the Y early.  I was able to drop them off a few minutes early, so I headed to Winston and drove fast.  The last thing I wanted was a repeat of the first (and only!) 10K I did.  I’ll give you the synopsis:

St. Leon Rot 10K in May 2010, in Germany–Two friends and I headed to the race with plenty of time, except not one of us brought the race location.  So we drove around & around the little town of St. Leon Rot, and by the time we stopped and got broken-English directions from a nice German lady, we were nearly out of time.  We ran inside the gym, got our bibs, went to the bathroom, ran back out to the start line, just as the gun went off.  The “warm-up” was our dash across the parking lot!  I had been training for 4 months by this time, so I ran an average pace of 8:20-ish.  I felt in line with a group of German men, and at mile 4, I felt good and passed them.  However, the kilometer signs threw me off, since my Garmin GPS watch is in miles, and I began to slow near the end.  For some reason, it didn’t register to me that the race was nearly done.  So the group of German men passed me back, then I saw the finish and did a late kick.  I had more ‘gas in the tank’ and I remember being upset that I screwed up the distance in my mind.  My watch time was 51:50, but chip time was 52:08 since we started after the gun went off.  I later found out I got 2nd in my age group.  Here’s a pic from that race:

Anyways… I knew I could PR yesterday. I’m actually fitter now, with a demanding job and two kids, than I was at age 25 (although Gabe was a little bitty poppyseed in my belly, in the above race).  I set my pace goal at 8:15/mile, but I’ve been trying not to be a watch-watcher and just run how I feel.  I figured if I could get to the turnaround (3.1 miles / 5K mark) at 25:30, then I’d be all set to run under a 51:00 10K.  Of course, I wanted to do even better, so my stretch goal was 49:59–just squeak under 50 minutes.

I noted the street parking the day prior, and got to the race with 15 min to spare.  Perfect!  I sucked down the first GU, a salted caramel flavor that I’d never tried before, saving the tried-and-true Vanilla for the race.  I followed the other runners up the hill to the St. Leo Catholic school where the start/finish line was.  The birds chirped loudly, what sounded like the Hallelujah chorus to me.  A gorgeous spring day, ready to rock this race, and with perfect conditions.  Sunny, yet cool.  46-50*.  Just cool enough that I wasn’t dripping sweat, and just warm enough that my shorts and dri-fit shirt were perfect.

I saw a row of port-o-john’s, and had to take one final pee–I get a nervous stomach before races, and it makes me feel like I gotta go even if I truly don’t.  In any case, I was thrilled to be there on time, with no line for the bathroom, and the bathroom even had toilet paper (though I had brought my own just in case).  After taking care of business, did my warm-up.

Pre-race warm-up is the same as my pre-run warm-up:

• Lunges (10 per leg)
• Toy soldier kicks (10 per leg)–just imagine a toy soldier’s legs going straight out in front.  It’s a dynamic way to wake up the hammies
• Leg-swings (10 per leg)–helps wake up the hips and groin

I didn’t bother doing any warm-up running because for a 6.2 mile race… there would be plenty of running 😉

Got my phone situated in the Fitletic belt, and Javi’s headphones in place around my ears.  I loaded new music earlier this week to get me motivated, but I didn’t start the tunes until a few minutes into the race.  Lined up, gun went off, and we were off!  The starting line holds so much excitement, but I find that 90% of folks get caught up in the excitement, and go out way too fast (I’m guilty of this too).  So, I held back, and people passed me left and right.  My early miles mantra is “conserve, conserve, conserve [energy]” so I didn’t let my ego get too bruised.  I’ll pass them back later on.

Glancing at my watch, my pace was in the low 8’s, right where I wanted it.  The course had rolling hills through some very nice Winston-Salem neighborhoods.  I had my music loud enough that I didn’t hear the first mile’s beep, so when I looked down for the first time it was already 1.5 miles done.  A little boy was in the street giving high 5’s, so I got one from him and felt a little boost.  People were still passing me, and I just told myself to maintain speed and run my own race.  I fell in line behind a couple, and noticed the Chik Fil A cow (or rather, a pretty decent runner dude dressed up like the Chik Fil A cow) was a good ways ahead of me.  I’ll be darned if I let that cow beat me.  How can he even breathe in that costume??

I had half of my vanilla GU at 2.5 miles, and felt the boost within minutes.  Before I knew it, we were at the turnaround.  My watch said 25:25.  Yes!!  I surged a bit, passed the couple, and fell in line behind 4 men (and had some déjà vu from my 10K in Germany where the same thing happened).  The mantra shifted from “maintain” to “firm it up” from miles 3-5.  I could see a group of 3 women ahead, and wanted to pass them next.  At the water station (roughly mile 4), I passed the men and all but one of the women.  Shortly after, on a hill, I passed her–I ran the tangent and she didn’t, saving me several valuable seconds (and steps).  I used to feel afraid of passing–because it was so embarrassing to pass those German guys in the race 5 years ago, only to have them pass me back so strongly.  Now when I make a move, it’s a calculated move, not passing just for the sake of passing.  I do my best to ensure I won’t get overtaken again.  One of the guys did end up passing me back, but none of the rest caught me, so I gained some much-needed confidence in that area.

At mile 4.5, I ate the rest of the GU, got my hands nice and sticky, and braced myself to “drop the hammer” in about another mile or so.  I saw the little kid again and gave him (and his little brother this time) a high-5.  I also gave this lady who was way behind everyone a high-5, and told her “You’ve got this!”  I hope it encouraged her and she didn’t feel like I was being condescending… I truly wanted to give her a boost.

I passed several more folks, and the next two were the Chik Fil A cow and his guide, a fit girl who looked to be in my age group.  I finally passed them with about 0.45 miles to go.   Time to really go, V!  I rounded the last corner and dug deep.  Surprisingly, my legs felt fine, but my breathing was labored.  I knew I had gone faster on mile 5, so I didn’t bother looking at my watch.  I knew I’d have a PR, so I just gave it all I had.  The finish line is even more exciting than the start line, so I paused my music and took in the noise & cheers.  Crossed the line and stopped my watch at 50:23 (actual chip time was 50:21.9), and looked down in shock.  I just ran the fastest 10K I’ve ever done.  I was 22 seconds from sub-50.  Next time I’ll get sub-50.  It felt awesome.  The week’s troubles washed away, and I felt so strong.

After pacing around the parking lot to cool down a bit, I chowed down on some bagel and orange slices, did a full stretch in the gym, then chowed down on a ham & cheese sub, and a brownie bite.  The awards ceremony wasn’t to start until 10:30, and it was only 10.  I had to pick up the boys by 11.  I had a strong suspicion that I won my age group, as I scoped out the other ladies at the turn around and didn’t see any that looked 25-29 in front of me.  Unfortunately, they took forever with the 10K results, and I headed out to pick up the boys at 10:40, giving me barely enough time to get them from the Y.

As I left the gym, they posted the 10K results, so I did a quick look and knew I won my age group.  I had seen the 5K medals, and did not want to leave without my medal!  I asked a lady if she thought they would mail them, and she said, Oh you can pick up your medal in the school office this week!  Well, that’s good news, except I don’t know the school hours, nor do I want to make a special trip to Winston on a week night.  So I did what any run-nerd would do: I hurried back to get the boys, arrived exactly at 11, and turned right around with them to head back to the race! LOL.  In my pre-mom days, I would have made one trip–arrive early to get my bib #, race, and wait for the results.  With kids, it took 3 trips.  Ha!

We arrived and they were cleaning up.  I went to ask about my medal, and the lady was like “Oh, you came all the way back to get it!  Here’s a few gift certificates from the door prizes to make it worth your while!”  She gave me three $10 gift cards to local restaurants… sweet!  It was already an amazing day, and that was the icing on the cake.  Actually, we saw the Kona ice truck (like an ice cream truck, but with sno-cones) in the parking lot (Gabe calls it the Cone-of-ice truck, LOL!) and I went to buy Gabe a sno-cone.  The lady said “They’re free! We are sponsoring the race!” and so we got a free sno-cone for Gabe.

Gabe took this pic of me with my medal (or as he says it, “meggle”).  Messy hair and all, I was proud of myself.  A medal makes a PR even more legit.

Asher just hung out and waited:

I reviewed the results when I got home (because I am truly a run-nerd).  The girl who got 2nd behind me was 13 seconds behind (probably the one running with Chik Fil A cow).  I was happy that I didn’t let up or she would have beat me.  Ironically, the most competitive age group was the 40-44… I would have gotten 5th in that age group!  Those are some fast women!  That bodes really well though, I have more than a decade to work on my speed 😉

Next up is the Raleigh Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon on April 12th!  One more long run, next weekend, and I’m ready for it!  If you made it this far, thanks for reading through my rambling race report 🙂