10K

I had one more running "test race" to get through before my trip to Tucson where I would really be tested. I signed up for the second race in the Triple Crown series, The Charm City 10K, and was in a build week leading into this race. Come Friday night I was excited to drive to Louisville to visit my sister and her husband but not so excited for this 10K as I was feeling fat, tired and sub-par. I did way less preparation for this race and was seriously dreading it. 

I went to bed late because staying up watching fashion police and eating some of my sister's homemade ice cream sounded way more appealing. So after about 6 hours of sleep it was time to get up and go meet the legendary GVM for a nice warm up! Since attending the USAT coaching certification I have become a major fan of the dynamic warm up. So after we jogged around for about 1.7 miles I got in some lunges and jumpies. We then made our way to the front of the pack (much better position than the 5K!) and we were off!

I knew I wanted to try and hold 6:40/6:45. I didn’t really have a goal time in mind, just something below 42 minutes. My running is very behind compared to some of the girls I am going to be facing in April so a sub-42 is like minutes away from where I need to be but I had to start somewhere! The first mile was pretty ugly….George was on fire and his claim of “starting out slow” was a lie, as I look down at my Garmin and see 6:00’s, 6:15’s and the like flash up. This is not slow for me. I knew I would crash and burn at this pace so I let him fight on and fell back. Having his head bob about 30 yards in front of me for the next 2 miles was anything but encouraging. So began the mental beat down from miles .5-2.5. I was telling myself I sucked, I should start walking and this all came together beautifully when I tried to sip some water out of a cup and promptly choked after pathetically climbing a hill. 

This face is about right considering how I was feeling.

Finally, the road took a turn and we started going downhill. There was a LARGE man next to me, just dominating and loving the descent, and I told myself I could not let him beat me. So I bucked up and held his pace. With that we were at mile 3 and I was feeling pretty good! Just like that I had gone from dropping out to feeling good holding about 6:25. Looking at my watch and making some quick math I knew if I could just hang on for the last 3 I could still break 42. So that’s what I did. Honestly, it felt pretty good and I was finally in control of my brain, my biggest enemy.

I crossed the line at 41:32 according to my Garmin and was pleased. I literally came from a dark place full of hate to a good result. I found Mr. Speed demon who seriously crushed it and we finished out with a cool down to bring the mileage for the day to about 10.  I am very glad that I did this race. I learned how much my mental game sucks and how much I need to work on this. It’s crazy how many emotions you can have in 41 minutes and 32 seconds!