So things seem to be working OK now, but I tried to log in earlier this morning (around 6:15) and neither the blogs nor the forum were working. I’ve been on blogspot for a while so I have a backup blog just in case. I’m kind of tired of being limited to these layouts, too. So if I get the time to set things up over there, look for a move to blogger sometime this week.
OK, on to the race. This is really long…sorry!!
Friday after work, I went home and quickly packed and DH and I headed to Denver around 3:15 or so. The wind was really picking up and neither of us really felt like racing (DH kept “hinting” that he wouldn’t mind cheering me on from the sidelines… lol) but a part of me really just wanted to get a 10k under my belt, no matter how unprepared I felt for it. Anyway, it took us 3 HOURS to get to north Denver when it usually takes us around 1.5 hours. The weather was terrible - it was alternating between freezing rain and snow, and basically all major highways/roads were stop and go. At this point I really was thinking that if it was like this tomorrow morning I was just going to lose the $20 and stay in bed. No way I was going to race in this crappy weather. We met my in laws, including my BIL and SIL, my FIL’s brother and wife (so, my aunt and uncle in law? lol) and their daughter/son in law and two boys (so my cousins in law? lol) for dinner. Huge group. We went to an Italian restaurant and I ordered the chicken parmesan. It was *heavenly* and just the right amount of food. Man I love taper days LOL. DH and I headed back to my IL’s house and went to bed around 10pm. I’m starting to get really nervous about running 6.2 miles the next morning but I keep reminding myself not to have any expectations (easier said than done!!) In my mind I wanted to finish under 1hr 25 minutes since I figured I would have to walk a bit. I just kept telling myself that the important thing would be to finish no matter how long it took.
Saturday/race day - We got up around 6 am and DH showered while I bundled up. I had half of a Clif bar for breakfast. I don’t care if you call it “chocolate brownie,” energy bars always taste like something you dug out of the garbage disposal. We left a little after 7 and stopped at the gas station to pick up some Gatorade (a really good idea in hindsight). My in laws live about 45 minutes from Longmont so we made it there right around 8:00 and quickly got a parking spot. The race began/ended at a middle school so we found our way to the pre-registration tables and picked up our race packets/numbers. The race t-shirt is SUPER nice..it’s a moisture wicking shirt (love these!) with an orange turkey on it lol. So much fun. We also got some luna bars and some ads for really expensive running gear. It wasn’t raining, snowing or windy so I was pretty happy, although it was chilly out. We hung out in the car until about 10 minutes before race start and then headed to the starting line. I didn’t think there were that many people but apparently almost 500 folks participated in the 10k. We settled ourselves somewhere around the middle of the pack and got comfortable.
We were off at approximately 9:00… the first mile is through a neighborhood which consisted of a very small hill, nothing too serious. DH kept me at a good pace and for once, I didn’t start out too fast! I knew from checking out the elevation profile that the first 2.5 miles were downhill, the next 2.5 miles were uphill, and then the last mile was downhill again. We turned south to begin mile 2 and this is where people started struggling (which I found odd because it’s still downhill, but whatever). We turned west and hit the second aid station at 2.5 miles. At this point I figured the next aid station would be around 4 miles so I told myself that I could at least make it to the next aid station before taking a walk break. We passed the 5k (3.1 miles -halfway) mark and I told DH that I wish it was a 5k because apparently this would be my best one yet (no walking so far!) All the while, we are keeping a steady pace… lo and behold, we are actually passing people. I’ve never passed someone in a race before!
We turn north and one of the race volunteers tells us we’re at 45 minutes and essentially 4 miles - “WELL over halfway” as he puts it. This makes me super happy. The 4 mile marker is just over a small hill (at this point we’re well into the incline, but it’s just 100 ft over 2.5 miles so it’s not very steep). Mile 4 comes and goes, but there’s no aid station. Not really a big deal because I’m still feeling really good at this point and don’t need to take a break. Finally we come up on mile 5 and I see the aid station… it’s at the top of a small hill and I start to slow down. Only when I slow down (not yet walking, but close) a wave of nausea washes over me and I almost toss my cookies. I mean, it just hits me like a brick wall. I decided to forgo the walk and keep running just to try and keep things from falling apart!!! I’m slowing down a lot until a lady behind me says “keep up the good work, I’ve been using you as a pacer the entire time and you’re running the perfect pace!” Funny because I can’t believe someone was using me as a pacer! I thought “gee lady, you must be REALLY slow, then!” LOL
Mile 5 should be downhill, and I’m sure it was but I’m really starting to feel crappy now. I’m breathing hard, sweating, feeling sick and my legs are beginning to tire. I know that I’m running probably a 12 minute mile, and around quarter of the way into mile 5, I start to count to 60 twelve times, trying to focus on anything other than how crappy I feel and block out the world. It works for a little bit and we come over a small hill to see the middle school in the distance. I can also see mile 6 in the distance, but I’m running and running and running and it’s not getting any closer!!! Mile 5 was by far the LONGEST mile in the entire race. I still haven’t stopped running (at this point I’ve been running for over an hour straight) and the really old guy (I’d say probably in his 70s) that I’d been using as a pacer for the past 2-3 miles was starting to lose steam. We passed him right before mile 6 and turned south again for the final .2 miles. I’m picking up my pace a little bit but I’m about ready to drop dead at this point.
We crossed the finish line at exactly 1hr 15 minutes - beating my expectation by 10 minutes AND running the ENTIRE 6.2 miles!
I’m feeling totally out of sorts at this point and it took me a minute to calm down and not feel sick anymore. The Gatorade we bought earlier REALLY helped settle my stomach down and we sat for a minute in the car before it finally hit me that I had run for 75 minutes without stopping. I just completed a 10k having never run farther than 5 miles (and that included multiple walk breaks!) HOLY CRAP!!! Did I really just do this?!
Funny that my best race so far this year has been a distance I’ve never run before!
Anyway, this is long enough. I’m still kind of on cloud 9 from all of it, even though my body is still pretty sore from it all (hips, underneath my patella, quads, etc).
GREAT race! 
