Whew! What a week last week. Before I get to my recap of my first race post injury, I’ll quickly give you the run down of last week and a surprise!

Monday: 30 minutes on the bike and the usual planks and bridges
Tuesday: Got in some good miles–5 at 8:30/mile. Felt good the entire way and was continuing to be surprised at how good being in the 8s felt. I was working, but not pushing too hard. Planks later.
Wednesday: Rest day
Thursday: 5 easy miles at 9:50/mile as I knew I had a race on Saturday. Planks later.
Friday: I was planning on doing a little shakeout run anyway but then it for sure happened so that I could test out THIS!!!

It’s so beautiful and I’ll talk more about it later 🙂

Saturday: Race Day!
Sunday: Rest day

FroYo 10k Recap

My game plan for the race was to try and maintain 8:30 miles for the first 3 and then progressively speed up for the last 3. And then gun it for the last .2.

But this is how it went.

The race was in Tempe Town Lake, a pretty area that I was familiar with. I arrived early to pick up my bib and meet up with some friends and we talked about how cold it was (for Arizona) but we knew it would quickly warm up (which it did, to like 80). I also planned on taking a pre-race pick with my Moms Run This Town group ❤

The 10k would start first at 7:45. There were no corrals but volunteers holding pace signs. I went to the front where the 8:00-9 sign was and adjusted my ear phones. Yes, I actually ran with music! Well, kinda. More on this later.

Soon enough, it was go time.

I started running and just ran. I always try to only look at my watch when the mile beeps and adjust accordingly so when the first mile beeped and I saw 8:08 I panicked a little. Too fast and not what I planned. I kept going and that’s when my earphones began to fall out. Plus, I had the I-pod in a pocket on the back of my shorts and when I ran, the volume would decrease and increase. I was reminded why I don’t like running with music. Too many unimportant/unnecessary things to worry about. I ran with one ear phone in and left the I-pod alone as I didn’t want to be struggling with trying to fix it. Some parts of the race I had music, most of it I didn’t, lol!! Mile 2, 8:12 and I felt a little better as that wasn’t as fast as the first mile had been and closer to what I had planned.

Mile 3 was the last of the loop (we’d do it again for the 10k) and it was a tough mile because there were little climbs throughout, tight turns, and changes of terrain–concrete, asphalt, and dirt. But I kept pushing through.

There was a girl in front of me who looked really strong. I kept admiring her calves and her arm muscles and for a while, I was distracted. Do you do that sometimes? Stare at runners while you’re running? After a while, I was pretty close to her and I wondered if she was slowing down. I began to pass her and then wondered if I was going too fast. Isn’t it funny how we do that? Doubt ourselves and let ourselves be intimidated by runners we feel ‘look’ faster than us?

Not too long after, mile 3 chimed in at 8:04. Panic set in again as I began to feel like maybe I wasn’t focusing on my pacing. I worried about getting tired and not being able to finish strong.

But then I remembered I had done 4 miles at an 8 minute pace not too long ago and told myself, heck, I could do it if I concentrated and pushed myself. I’d already blown my plan of doing the first 3 at 8:30 so new plan it is!

Mile 4, 8:06
Mile 5, 8:04
Mile 6, 7:54

I freakin’ did it!!! And you know how I said I wanted to “gun it” the last .2?? I freakin’ did that too!!!

I ran through the finish line fists in the air and with a huge smile. An over 3 minute PR at 49:29!! NEVER did I think I would get a sub 50 time.

I met up with some other friends and we quickly got in line to get our celebratory yogurt.

I was on cloud nine on my drive home and was so excited to see my husband. I had texted him my race results and I knew he would be as thrilled about it as me. He was ❤

On Facebook a while later, a friend posted her official time which prompted me to check out mine. Except I couldn’t find it!! I looked and looked and rechecked my bib number but I was nowhere to be found. When I compared my time to the overall, gender, and age group I saw that I had finished 20/361, 7th female, and 3rd in my age group! I had placed!

Except it wasn’t official 😦

I immediately e-mailed the race people, and Facebooked them for good measure, but have yet to hear back. The age group placement doesn’t concern me; I’m glad I placed and all, but I just really want my time to be listed and official official, you know? I mean, it’s gotta be on my Athlinks! LOL

Overall, I just can’t believe how well I ran. That I maintained a sub 8:15 pace for 6.2 miles is just dumbfounding. It’s a huge confidence booster going into the 1/2 marathon I’m running in two weeks. I hope to PR there (sub 1:55) but really, I’m just so so glad to be running again ❤

–Do you get intimidated by the way other runners look?

–When is the last time you surprised yourself at a race??