Beirut Memorial 10K

Hello!  Whew, what a day!  It's been pretty laid back, but I've been sleepy.  So, I made a fresh cup of coffee and now I'm going to share with you my amazing weekend...

If you would've told me seven months ago that I would run two 10K's this year I would've chuckled.  In fact, my husband asked me the other day, "When were you planning on running a 10K before I suggested you do the one in May?"

I replied, "Not until I was closer to my goal weight."

And he reminded me, "And look...now you're going to have done two of them!"

Yes, Saturday was my second 10K race and I'm still about 25-30 pounds away from my goal weight.

Short Story:  Despite waking up a bit of an emotional wreck I finished the Beirut Memorial 10K race strong and happy.  At the beginning of the race I met an angel of sorts who unknowingly pushed me to step up my pace a bit and I ended up running faster than I expected. 

Long Story: 

I planned to do this race months ago, but didn't start training for it as early as I did my race in May.  In fact, I hadn't run much all summer, but I did do the core training with Body Revolution DVDs.  After the kids went back to school I got back into the gym more and started running more as the temperatures cooled.

A couple weeks ago I was nervous about this race.  I felt undertrained.  Lots of people agree it's better to show up undertrained than injured, so I figured I'd just show up and do my best.  If I met my May goal of staying under a 12:00 minute mile pace I was going to be happy.

Well, a week ago I did my last long training run before the race and it went well, so for the first time since I signed up for the race I felt ready.

Then the day before I started my monthly, my emotions are a wreck and I woke up Saturday morning wondering why the heck I decided to do this?!?! As I got dressed and got some coffee going I kept telling myself, "It's hormones,  you'll be fine, it's going to be okay."  It wasn't until we got driving over to the race that I started feeling better.

My husband took me to the race and talked to me through the car window while I jogged in place to warm up.  It was a chilly 50-55 degrees.  I stretched, jogged and began to feel a little better about it all.  Then I did a quick little jog down and back to warm up my legs before we headed over to the race start/finish so I could use the bathroom one more time.

As I rounded the corner I saw my friend who had texted me already earlier wishing me good luck.  She runs a lot, but had never run so far, and we decided to do this race together.  When I saw her I got really excited.  (Yay for friends and crowds to get you excited about an event!!)  I was still nervous, but now it was the nervous excitement.

It was a gun start race and as the crowd surged ahead I found myself next to a chatty lady who was running about my pace.  She was really friendly and shared with me about she had just completed her first half marathon, her tips, etc. etc.  I was nervous to stay with her when I looked down at my Garmin and realized we were going faster than I usually allow myself to on a long run.

But...the weather was cool, I felt good and I decided, "Oh, heck, just go with it.  It's not super fast and you can slow down later if you feel like you need to."

We ended up chatting off and on for the first 3 miles, passing some people who were slower and agreeing that if one needed to slow down the other wouldn't be offended one bit.  :)

Just before mile 3 I kept going and she slowed up a tad.

From then on I was on my own.  It was glorious.  Still so cool out, legs just going and feeling great.  

Just after mile 4 I saw we were passing where my car was parked.  There was my husband ready with the camera to snap a picture.  I gave him a thumbs up and told him, "I'm going faster than I planned!"  He said, "Good!"

The course ran on a path that went through woods, some asphalt driving area and then finished up on a gravel path in another patch of woods.  As I skirted around a huge puddle after mile 5 I thought to myself, "I am a trail runner now!  Yep, just put my picture in Runner's World!" lol

Mile 6 brought us back to asphalt and I sprinted to the finish coming in at 1:08.  One hour and eight minutes - a full 2 minutes faster than my 10K race in May.  I ended up setting a personal best without even really trying.

That's when I knew the lady who chatted with me at the beginning was an angel of sorts, sent to push me out of my comfort zone and show me I could do more than I thought.  :)  So, when she came towards the end I hopped up and ran over the finish with her.

It was a great way to start the weekend!  I was excited about finishing strong and faster than expected.

Oh, and I can't leave without saying a BIG THANK YOU to my husband who believed enough in me to challenge me to do something I didn't think I could.  Love dat man!