Race Report

Because you asked for it, here's my "race report" for the Colorado Women's Classic Virtual 10-Miler! 

First of all, it was a PR, because I've never run a ten miler before (a PR or "personal record" means you ran the course at your best time ever). 


I wanted to start at 6 am, to finish before church and before the sun got too hot! The forecast was for 89 degrees and thunderstorms! My alarm went off at 5:30--and so did the thunder! I checked my Weather Channel app on my phone, and it said, "the storms will be out of your area at 6:15." Thank you, Jim Cantore! 

I did some quick calculating and decided I had enough time to run, so I started at 6:15. When I left my house, it looked safe, but as I turned off my block, the skies were dark and foreboding in the distance. By the time I finished the first leg (down the road, around the park twice and back -- five miles), it was a beautiful sunny day! (A little humid!)

I broke the race up into two out and backs, the second being the route that I run most often (which is mostly flat). My first mile was slow (had to wait for a traffic light as well), But after that I had negative splits (meaning I got faster each mile) until mile 6, and then I was able to stay under 12 minutes, at least. Pretty good. So I was able to finish in under 2 hours. (In a race with other people, adrenalin usually makes my first three miles faster, so I gain some ground and then decrease pace as I get tired).

I only walked once, up a hill, in mile 9. I figured I could make it through at least three without a break, then I got to three and decided to see how far I could go. When I got to 6, I told myself that getting to 8 without a walk break was my new goal.

I finished at 8:14, which was plenty of time to shower and get ready for church -- and wear my new belt that makes my waist look small! 

I feel MUCH better about the rest of my training before my next half marathon, since I know I have it in me to do 10 miles (and usually if you can do ten miles, you can make it through 13.1). I have several weeks to train, so I'm going to start doing 8-milers on Wednesday and 10 on Saturdays or Sundays. I will be ready to dominate!