What? You still want to hear about it? Fine!
Well let's back up a little. Out of the blue on Friday I started having cold/allergy symptoms. By yesterday, they were in full swing and nothing I took relieved my symptoms. Believe me, I tried it ALL. I'm sorry, didn't I just have Strep throat and bronchitis? Whatever! Anyway yesterday, my eyes were watering profusely and my nose wouldn't stop running and my ears were so clogged that I couldn't hear. I suspected that what I was experiencing was allergies (but now I'm not too sure because I have a low grade fever).
I took 2 Benadryl with the hopes of being able to sleep and went to bed at 10:30 pm allowing for a full 8 hours of rest.
I woke up feeling just as crappy, but took another antihistamine in hopes that it would work. I felt super dry and dehydrated before the race even started, but I was in good spirits and still determined to do well.
Once again, I was in the porta potty line when the race started. How does this keep happening? Must.learn.to.get.to.start.even.earlier. So when we lined up we didn't get in our correct coral. We were in the D coral (which is slower) and there were a A LOT of later letters (i.e. slower people) lined up in that coral too.
This race is HUGE. The Statesman Capital 10K is the largest 10K in Texas and the 5th largest in the nation. Understandably, this race attracts ALL kind of people and a LOT of wakers. And I swear we were behind all of them, including a wagon (no lie).
The plan was for the four of us (Bianca, Mary, Karla and I) to all stay together. The unfortunate thing is these ladies are all MUCH faster than myself. Karla did speed work yesterday running 5.25 miles in 33 minutes. Yeah, like I said MUCH FASTER! With all the weaving, Bianca and Mary quickly pulled away and we lost site of them almost right away. Thankfully Karla stuck it out with me.
As the race got going, we had to weave in and out between the wagons, strollers, walkers and just plain dumb people. Sorry but IF YOU ARE SLOW LINE UP IN THE BACK. There were 4 corals behind us so I can't even imagine what was back there!
Nevertheless we kept a good pace going for the first two miles:
Mile 1: 9:40
Mile 2: 9:47
After the first two miles, I quickly realized the hopes of setting a PR (personal record) on this course were out of reach (like really far out of reach). I was struggling to maintain the 9:45ish pace and that wasn't even close to a PR. I don't remember when the hills started, but I'm guessing by my splits around mile 3. Ha! The hills were tough and every part of me wanted to walk. I just kept plugging away as fast as I could (I was pushing hard believe me).
Mile 3: 10:11
I knew my friend Kelley was going to be at mile 4 so I had something to look forward to. Sure enough there she was with her two girls holding up signs and cheering us along. It definitely gave me a burst of energy to see her, but it quickly wained. Thanks Kelley you rock!!!!
Mile 4: 10:12
The sun was absolutely blazing. I don't know how hot it was (high today was 81), but there wasn't a cloud in the sky and the sun was VERY intense. I took water at every water station and started dousing myself with cups of water over my head and down my back.
By mile 5 it seems most of the hills were over, but I was spent. I kept telling Karla that I just couldn't get my breathing under control. I was laboring the whole time, but I couldn't relax and get in a groove. I'm sure I could have if I slowed down, but that wasn't an option. I really felt like I wanted to throw up, but I kept pushing.
Mile 5: 10:02
Mile 6: 10:12
Karla is an awesome cheerleader. She talked to me a lot, telling me stories, or just plain encouraged me. Thanks Karla for sticking with this turtle and being by my side. You're a good friend.
It was long and torturous 6.2 miles and I crossed the finish line officially in 1:02:59 which is a 10:09 pace. My garmin read 6.31 miles with a 9:59 average. I hoped to finish in less than an hour, but it just wasn't in the cards and I was disappointed (and hot).
I sat down for a few second afterwards feeling dizzy, but I think I just needed water. Again, Karla was by my side and she was neither hot nor sweaty (or so it appeared). haha
I met up with Kelley at the end as well. Look at her epic sign! Don't know the banana story? Check it out here. I didn't slip on any bananas or any other fruit for that matter. At least that part was smooth sailing.
Mary and Bianca finished the race really fast. I'm glad they were able to go ahead and run an awesome race. I think it should be known that Mary is the mother of FOUR children and her youngest is just 5 months old. She's only been back to running for a few months. That's one AWESOME mama! Actually they're all awesome mamas.
Even though the race didn't go exactly how I had planned, I'm still happy I was out there giving it my best effort and for the simple ability to be able to run. Right now, I'm keeping my eye on the big prize of having a great 1/2 marathon in Pittsburgh. Thanks for the training run Cap 10!
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