Not surprisingly, I selected the 10 mile option. I prefer to run distances of 10k+ because I just don’t like to run that fast! I know it sounds crazy to non-endurance runners, but it’s true.
Let’s start out with my goals for this race:
I wanted to run it in 1 hour & 17 minutes or less. That sounds like a random number, but I did it on the treamill last weekend while watching the Olympic Marathon trials. I wanted to make it a reality in the great out doors.
I wanted to go out fast. It’s a personality flaw when it comes to running – I’m not overly competitive with anyone but myself. I don’t enjoy going out of the start being pushed & shoved by the masses. I prefer to start at a very conservative pace and keep it steady and slowly take people out one by one as they get tired. I’ve always finished with lots less to give, and I didn’t want that to happen again!
Can I just acknowledge two rookie mistakes? I wore brand spankin’ new shoes. I’ve been having panic attacks that my old ones were hurting my left knee. I was kind of in a lose-lose place because I didn’t want to risk running 10 miles hard on shoes that were bothering me knee. I figured you can live through a little foot pain so I decided wearing new shoes was the lesser of two evils. I wore them last night to the gym for a few easy miles… and they felt awful. But I stuck with my decision.
I woke up sore this morning. Dumb, dumb, dumb. I’m not good at resting. For some reason, I had the urge to do 15 minutes of squats & lunges yesterday afternoon, and I really didn’t cut back on my mileage much this week. Oh well.

There I go. Going out with some scary fast people. I will say I did something right. The shorts & jacket combo was perfect for the gorgeous 50ish weather. I did get hot when the sun came out in the last 2 miles, but I wouldn’t have changed a thing.
Mile 1: 7:33 — Mission Go Out Fast accomplished! For the first 5 miles I stayed with a pair of 20-something girls who were clicking off 7 and a half’s like it was nada. I just pretended I was friends with them.
Mile 2 – 7:27
Mile 3 – 7:20 <—- That I should have KNOWN was a bad idea!
Mile 4 – 7:25
Mile 5 – 7:30 Yay! Halfway through! Wait, I lost my friends!! Hey guys! Where’d you go? We got 5 miles left! My 2 pacers apparently took an extended break at the turn around. As in, I never saw them again. I can’t believe they deserted me. How rude!! I really struggled to get back in the groove after that.
Mile 6 – 7:36 My slowest mile, and the beginning of the end.
Mile 7 – 7:50 I was fading fast! I started telling myself Shalene Flanagan’s mantra: COLD EXECUTION!!!!!!!
Mile 8 – 8:16 Totally fell apart. I actually walked a FEW times. I just couldn’t catch my breath!! I would walk to the count of 10, and then start running again. Being tired near the end race was totally uncharted territory for me. I almost found it confusing.
Mile 9 – 8:35 Dying. Same as mile 8. But then……

My running buddy angel, Brooke, showed up to coach me through the last 1.5 miles. I was so thankful – I almost cried!!!! I had been running by myself for a few miles, and it was just so wonderful to have someone to run with me!!

You can see her off to the left peeling off right before the finish.

Mile 10 – 8:31
Overall time was just a hair over 1 hour, 18 minutes. I actually ran about an extra .10 miles which probably added about 30 seconds, but that’s the way racing goes!
I was just so happy to be done!

I’m just wiping away the gross saltiness and trying to breathe!
I was disappointed not to make my time goal. But I was thrilled that I was spent. I know that sounds weird, but I feel frustrated when I finish a race with a lot to give. I left it all on that course, baby!!!
But then!!! We were chilling, hanging and about to leave, but we thought we’d check the standings first.

I won first place in my age division!!!!!!!!! I was shocked. I knew that there weren’t very girls ahead of me (it was out & back), but it’s probably the biggest race I’ve ever run (over 1000 participants) so I was NOT expecting anything. And my prize was a gift certificate to Runner’s Roost. So much cooler than a medal!! Hooray!!! What an awesome surprise!!

As much as I hate to share the spotlight, my hottie husband also had a great performance today finishing the 5 mile in just barely over 40 minutes!! Good job, honey! I actually got to watch him finish because the 5 mile was at 9 and the 10 mile didn’t start till 10:15. Just in case you wanted to run both!
Seriously! I loved watching all the finishers come in. The crowd was pretty lame so I was really the only one cheering. I need to get a cowbell before our next race!! I love watching races. I cried my eyes out when I saw a couple finish in just under 10 minute miles. I was so proud of them since it was clearly their goal and they nailed it!! It totally got me psyched up for my race.

Yeah. The new shoe situation came back to BITE me. I couldn’t WALK after the race. I limped back to the car. Funny that they didn’t bother me a bit till I stopped running. I feel a lot better after I hot showered them!!!
A few thoughts on the race itself:
- Cute long-sleeved shirt, but too big as always!!! I guess I should have asked if there were kids’ sizes, but I’ll live.
- Slipped on patches of ice in several places. That scared me.
- Nice flat course!!
- Fun atmosphere at start/finish
- Maybe I should do the Snowman Stampede next month (the next race in the Winter Distance series).

We were STARVING by the time we got cleaned up and showered. We had just enough money in this week’s food budget to grab some Qdoba for lunch. Good thing, since I wasn’t exactly up to walking around the kitchen!! It really hit the spot after a tough race.
Next time:
- I’m not gonna be in new shoes!
- I’m going to train a little more outdoors. Treadmill training is fine & dandy, but I was coughing up a lung even in the very mild January air. I wasn’t used to that outdoor feeling.
- I’m going to run negative splits. Really my preference anyways!!
- I will rest more!! Whether I like it or not.
- If it’s a 10 miler, I will beat today’s time!!!
What’s your most common racing mistake? Starting too slow. I definitely did the opposite today!!!
Would you rather…. make your goal time or place in your age division? That’s a tough one. It was really nice to place, but I don’t think I would have been disappointed if I made my goal time and didn’t place.
How do you strategize your races? Even pace? Negative splits? I’m experimenting. I want to know!
What’s your favorite distance to race? It would have been awfully nice to stop at 8 today!! Haha.