Cowboy Gallop 10K 2016

This past Saturday, I ran my first post-baby race. It was a 10K  that ran through town and ended on the 50 yard line of our local university. I had a few goals that I set for the race and was mostly optimistic about the outcome. Also, I was sick. I started coming down with a cold and cough that previous Sunday and it hadn't gone away by Saturday. I was full of congestion, coughing..you know, that typical cold stuff. However, despite the way I felt, I decided to stick with the plan anyway.

The night before the race, I had dinner at a local pizza place with my friend Kim, then Brayden and I went to my parent's house to spend the night. You see, Jason was working and I wanted to be able to wake up and get ready for the race without worrying about also getting Brayden up and out the door. This way, he was able to stay asleep as long as he wanted to.

My clothes were also laid out and ready to go so I wouldn't forget anything.

I woke up about 6 a.m. and tried to remember all my "pre race rituals". It had been so long, I kind of forgot what to do!

My mom snapped a photo of me right before I walked out the door.

The sunrise was beautiful that morning and I'd hoped that meant good things were to come...

It was clear a cool and the humidity was low (which was awesome) although I did get a little hot close to the end of the race. 

Heather and I met up, then walked to the start line together.

As the race began, I sort of weaved in and out of people until I found someone to keep pace with. This kept on for the next four miles - I would keep pace with someone until they slowed down, then I would find another person to pace with. My A goal was to finish in 54 minutes which would mean a little less than 9 minute miles all the way. I felt most comfortable at a pace around a 9:05 and that's what I maintained through 4 miles. In the back of my mind, goal A was gone which was ok...but I knew that goal B HAD to be obtained. This course also holds my 10K PR which is around 51 minutes and some change. I definitely knew a PR was out of the question this go round.

This race was a tough one for me. I kept coughing and the congestion almost did me in. The bases of both lungs began to burn somewhere around mile four and a half. "You can stop when you're finished" was something I kept repeating in my head over and over again. "Almost there..." "You've run this hard for this long, you might as well finish it out..." I kept picturing my dad, mom, and Brayden waiting for me at the finish line and that helped me continue. My pace also slowed down to a 9:45 here. I decided that slowing down was better than stopping all together.

On top of not being able to breathe, there was only one water stop on this course....somewhere around mile 2.6. Yes, ONE. I know that most of this race is run on a busy road in town but still...one additional water stop would have been nice!

Around mile 5, a girl that stayed with me most of the race began trying to talk to me. I felt so bad for her because I usually like to talk to people during races, but just saying a few words almost threw me into an asthma attack. I also didn't want my heart to jump into its crazy PSVT rhythm and ruin all possibilities of reaching my 2nd goal, so I simply stopped talking. I hope she could see my struggle and knew I wasn't trying to be rude.

In the last portion of the race, we had to cross a busy street from one side to another. There were cops directing the flow of traffic and yes, some lanes were open to traffic. Well, one of the drivers thought that the officer was waving her on and not me....which means she proceeded to go forward and came uncomfortably close to me. She got a good yelling at by the cop...thankfully I wasn't hit!

As I mentioned before, the last portion of this race ends on the 50 yard line of a local university's stadium. (I also graduated nursing school from there!)  

Somehow, somewhere, I had enough in me to pick up a little steam as I ran down the finishing chute.  I spotted my parents and Brayden and I waved as I passed. Although I didn't reach goal A of 54 minutes, I did reach goal B of "anything less than an hour"...my time was 57:06!

For being sick, not being able to breathe, and everything else that was against me during this race, I'll take it!

After crossing the finish line, I seriously almost lost my cookies. I had to walk around for a few minutes and control my breathing so I wouldn't throw up. My mom got a picture of me laying down on the field...I'm sure that was a pleasant picture! :)

I was SO excited to see Brayden and my parents out there! It was fun having them along to cheer me on!

First post-baby race complete!

Thank God for running, racing,and good friends! :)

While we recuperated,  my dad took Brayden all over the field. He made a first down AND a touchdown!

It was fun to hang out on the field for a while and be in a place we never get to see from that perspective!

After leaving the field, we walked over to the alumni pavilion for the awards ceremony. Neither of us placed in our AG, but it was nice to have a bottle of powerade and listen to the awards!

After saying goodbye to each other, I packed Brayden up and we made our way to Starbucks for a little post-run treat! :)

I had the Chestnut Praline Latte and it was so good! Yay for Christmas beverages!!

In all, I think I chose a pretty good race for my first one after having Brayden 7 months ago! It was fun to finish on the football field with my family cheering me on! :) Our names/finishers times were even published in the local Sunday newspaper! How fun is that?!

Have you ever run a race that finished in a fun/rare location?

10K Goals

This weekend, I will run my first postpartum race - a 10K that runs through my hometown and ends on the 50 yard line of my local University. It's also the race that holds my current 10K PR.

I am excited but I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous at all. There's just something about race day that brings around so much anticipation...there's nothing quite like it! I also have a few goals I've set for myself for this race which only makes the nerves a bit worse.

This race will serve a few purposes...the main being a decent (hopefully) 10K time to post as a corral placeholder for Princess in February. I also registered for a back-up 10K that will be held the following weekend. I'm looking forward to both races, but I'm also glad to have the 2nd one as a "just in case" kind of race. I've also run both races before, which I think will help tremendously on race day.

With my IT band giving me a bit of an issue during last week's planned 12 mile run, I am going to keep up the PT routine and stretching throughout this week. Thankfully, I ran 5.5 miles on Saturday and had no issues whatsoever. I'm crossing my fingers that it will be the same for race day!

I set two goals for race day:

Ultimate goal: 54 minutes
Although my 10K PR is right around 51 minutes and change, that was a couple of years ago. I've also had a baby and taken a bit of forced time off from running since then...so I don't think that setting a PR goal here would be feasible. However, running the race with my mile splits around 9 minutes each does sound obtainable.

I'd be happy with it goal: 59 minutes
Ultimately, I would like to reach anything under the 1 hour range.

Although my husband has to work and won't be able to be at the race to give his support, my parents will be there along with Brayden to cheer me on as I cross the finish line. I can't wait! I'm crossing my fingers that the weather is nice for Saturday!

Bring on race day!!

McNeese Cowboy Gallop 10K Recap

Last Saturday, my friend Heather and I decided to participate in a local 10K…one of the only 10K’s in our area, actually! The 10K was sponsored by the track team from our local University (also my alma mater). A huge deciding factor in running this race was the fact that runners finished on the 50 yard line of the football stadium! Say what!

We returned from Disney on the Thursday night before this event to a really cold Louisiana. After checking the weather, I discovered that race-day temps wouldn’t be much better. Lovely! Our University colors are blue and gold, so I attempted to dress accordingly (as close as possible at least)!

Race morning temps were in the “feels like” 32 degrees range, so Heather and I stayed in our cars as long as possible. I did end up foam rolling right before (yes, in the parking lot!), which I think helped me in the long run – no pun intended! :)

As runners began gathering around, I quickly realized something – not many people showed up for the race that morning. I don’t know if the crazy temps drove people away or what, but I was kind of happy to run with a smaller crowd (a nice change from my recent Disney races).

This route led us out of the stadium area and onto one of the busier roads in town. One lane of traffic was closed off for us and the local officers did a great job with lane/road closures and keeping runners safe!

During this race, I truly ran my heart out. My prior PR was in the 54 minute range, so I wanted to try and surpass that. In the back of my mind, I kept thinking about placing, too…this race was super small, how difficult would it be?

I scoped out every female that passed me – did she look like she belonged in the 30-39 category? If so, I ran a bit harder. I’m not gonna lie, there were several females throughout this course that kept me motivated and pushing hard to finish with a good time. We all stayed close to each other and finished within seconds of each other – I kinda felt like Kara Goucher only WAY slower. Haha! That’s something I love about racing – the competitive side of things. It’s also nice that runners can be as competitive or not as competitive as they like, it’s up to each individual runner. There are some days where I’m just not feeling it and that’s ok – I like to run for fun, too!

As we headed into Cowboy Stadium, we ran down this super steep hill. I actually slowed down a little bit so I wouldn’t fall face first and that’s when the girl in the orange socks passed me. I realized my mistake as soon as I hit the ground (with both feet, not on my face) and I picked up the pace as much as possible but I didn’t have anything left in me. I truly gave this race everything I had.

I crossed the finish line with a time of 51:35 (watch time) and 51:43 (official). Definitely a PR and I was ecstatic!

After crossing the finish line, I grabbed a bottle of water, then walked over to the sidelines to cheer my friend Heather on as she finished the race. She PR’d, too!!

We just had to take a picture of us on the turf. It was really neat being out on the field!

After hanging out and watching the end of the race, we made our way to the Alumni pavilion for the awards ceremony. I already knew that I hadn’t placed and I was ok with that – in the end, my age group was one of the most competitive out of all of them (had I been in any other age group, I would have placed)! I was 6th in my AG and was super happy with my results. A PR is a PR no matter what!

Refreshments were served while waiting on the official results. I grabbed a bowl of the breakfast casserole because it was warm!

We attempted not to freeze to death – I can’t tell you how glad I was that I kept my gloves/ear warmers during the race!

I am incredibly proud of my friend Heather!

She placed 2nd in her age group AND PR’d! What a day!!

We each took home a new track team t-shirt and a hacking cough….but I feel much better now, though. We aren’t used to running in cold temperatures like that here in SWLA!

My one dislike about this race was the fact that there was only one water station on the course – it was at mile 2.5. Thankfully, it wasn’t a warm day…I would have been in seriously trouble if so!

Other than the water stops, I loved this race and can’t wait to run it again next year!

Does your area have a lot of 10K’s? What’s your favorite local race to run?