Race Recap - NCRC Classic 10K

Well, this was... humbling.

I honestly have been telling myself that a 10k was nothing to get too worked up about and my inconsistent training was not going to stop me from attaining my time goals.

HA.

HAHA.

I didn't respect the distance or train enough and, oh man... did I pay for that. Here's the breakdown:

What?  No balloon arch?  Sad.

The Good:  I PR'd!  Not as fast as I wanted but faster than my last 10k.  So that was awesome!  And I wasn't last, so there's that.  I really thought I would be last for the first couple of miles but then I passed some people and at turnaround saw that there were even more people further behind me.

The Bad: The first mile was soul-crushing.  I huffed and puffed and suffered.  I thought about turning around and quitting.  Not in that, "It'd be nice to quit" way, but in a very serious, "OMG, I'm going to have a heart attack if I take one more step" way.  By mile 2, I had found a groove but I already figured out my time goal was a pipe dream.

This came just at the right time to keep me moving.

The Ugly: The last .2 of the 6.2 was a monster hill.  The half marathon leaders were passing me and they even walked up the hill.  Here's my elevation chart from Garmin:

 

The downhill didn't feel that significant on the first mile, but at the end... oh my stars... my final .41 mile was at an 18:58 pace if that gives you any idea of how bad it was.  That was the second time I wondered if quitting was an option.  I literally have no idea what kept me moving up that hill.  I thought about my kids, my IRun4 buddy Garin, and the Swim, Bike, Mom mantra, "Just Keep Moving Forward".  And I guess it worked because I made it.  But it was an exhausting way to end a race I was not prepared for.

Lessons Learned:  At some point, this lesson is going to sink in.  I MUST TRAIN FOR RACES.  Train like it's a serious thing.  I mean, really.  It's getting embarrassing to be me.

Best Part:  I looked cute!  I wore my Everest SparkleSkirt over tights (because it was in the low 50s this morning!) and big eyelashes.

I ran this race to submit a time to Disney for my upcoming Dumbo Double Dare and Wine & Dine.  I am wondering if I will though.  The time is not what I had hoped and last time, I didn't submit a time and got in 3 corrals from the last.  If I take the lessons learned part to heart and do some training, I can handle being in the last corral.  It's not the end of the world.  Maybe any time submitted is better than no time submitted?  I don't know.  I'll have to see if any RunDisney experts chime in on the comments.






Before the race!

After the race!  Still smiling!