My first 10K Race

Actually in some ways I guess I could say this was my first real race regardless of length. The Race for the Cure was a lot of fun but it was not really timed and there were SO MANY people. Plus, it was so early in my training.

Today was the advoKate run. This race is a charity race to raise money for the St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. The race is focused on research for brain cancer. It is the 6th annual race and I am glad I took part in it.

I am so thankful for my mom on days like this. Jeff is up north for his annual boys golf weekend so I had both kids and the race was an early start. After talking about it we decided my mom would come out to the race with me and the kids. While I was running they would play in the park and walk around. Abby was thrilled with the chance to go to the "Big Race" as she called it. The morning started out good. Got the kids up and out on time. I had a banana this morning for breakfast and once again I think I do a lot better when I eat almost nothing before I run. I did drink some water but I just cannot stomach anything before I run. I am not sure what is going to happen when my mileage goes up to double where I am but I think I am going to have to figure that one out as I go.

The race started from Rochester Municipal Park in Rochester Hills. Again, super glad my mom was with me because she had been to the park before and knew right where to go to get to the main entrance. The park was super nice. I got checked in super fast and then I got a surprise call. Andrea did not originally think she could join me for the race but things worked out and she was able to! So we met up and went to the start line. It was hard to hear the starting instructions but I figured it could not be too much (should have listened a little more as you will see in a little bit). The horn sounded and we were off. Andrea was going to do the 5K so we were together for the first 2 miles until the split. Now, one of the things they told us before the race that I could not hear was a warning about the hills at the beginning of the course. Not sure why it never occurred to me that there might be hills in Rochester HILLS but I was a little shocked. It kind of felt like we just went uphill for most of the first 1 or so.

I was planning to use my 2/1 intervals but to get out of the middle of the pack we ran the first 5 minutes (about 1/2 mile). Then we switched to intervals. There was another group using the same timing about 5 seconds off of us which was nice! After 2 miles we made the split. Andrea headed back into the park and I headed off onto the Paint Creek Trail. I am actually so glad for the trail. I was a little worried in the beginning since it was packed gravel but it was so nice. There was shade and water along the path. We went 1.5 out on the trail and actually into Oakland. The Oakland County Sheriff and Rochester Hills police did a great job with traffic. Even though we had to cross 3 main roads there was not any real stop. They were watching for the runners and stopped traffic so we could just keep going!

The finish was the best and I think that is where you get the real high from racing. My mom and Barb made sure the kids were at the finish to see me. When Abby spotted me she was yelling "Go Mommy" and once I came through and came around she was right there with me. She walked a little with me and was so cute. She was so happy and it was so nice to have them there to cheer for me.

I stuck to my intervals pretty good except for water stations. Since those don't always come during the walk time I had a little extra. One fun thing was that everything from Jeff Galloway's book held true. I was using a set interval and there were 2 runners close to me. They would get ahead of me during my walks but I would catch right back up. I ended up finishing in front of one of them and behind the other but we were all close. The women using the intervals at the beginning also finished close behind me so we really did pace right on track using them. I think the best part was I felt great at the end.

My official time is not posted yet but I think it was right at 1:13 which was better than I had hoped for. Not making excuses but when the race started it was 78 degrees and the humidity was really high. At the end of the race it was 80 with a real feel temp of 83 so I am hoping that my race in September will be a little cooler.

Another fun thing for this race was I wore my Princess training shirt and it makes me smile. Here are so shots from the end of the race!!

What's next? Run Wild at the Zoo in September!!

And only 201 days until the Princess!!


One more fun thing. If you are considering checking out the Galloway method, here is the new RunDisney video featuring Jeff Galloway (be careful, it sticks in your head)