GREENBELT 10KMS RACE REPORT

Well its done - my first 10km race and it was almost as hard as the HM last year LOL.

I woke up feeling good and was curious as to what my MM would show on race day. 68.5kgs which I was REALLY happy with (I was over 71 on Wednesday last week). I felt lighter and instantly had a little extra spring in my step :-)

The race start was close to where I live but Peter dropped me off and left me to it while he came home to make breakfast and run our boy to chess club. I felt a lot less nervous than last year but putting my heart rate monitor on early I could see my pulse rate was already up a little.

We strolled out ot the start line and were told to take our places according to how fast we thought we were. At this point I went to the back of the group - hey I'm a slow runner and under NO illusions that I'd be anywhere near the front of the pack.

So the race started and typically I got all choked up and teary (this happened last year too LOL). Every time I race I think of the fat girl who sucked at every sport in school. The girl who had no sporting skills or talent, who always got picked last for the team and sadly the girl who in year 6 jumped on the vault horse (or whatever that piece of gymnastics equipment is called) and broke it. Yep they werent fun times I can tell you and they will always be etched in my mind. Perhaps thats why in my 40s with life experience and a positive and determined attitude, I like to challenge myself and prove I'm not that fat and talentless girl any more.

But back to today. I pulled myself together and just ran. I felt good and went out quite hard and fast. I found my pace quickly and in those first few kilometres I wondered if I could indeed have done the HM today. I certainly was having lots of thoughts about smashing my sub 70 goal. At the 5km mark I was sitting at around 32 minutes but I was starting to feel like I needed to slow down a bit to make the distance. Yet again I didnt want to walk any of it.

Well the second half was definitely slower. I was tiring a bit and feeling empty (I always run on an empty stomach). After the 3kms to go mark it got quite hard and I had to call on Pat's advice from last year about not even getting out of bed for 3kms LOL. The distance between the 2 and 1 km mark felt like 10kms on its own. I thought the 1km marker would never come. I was tired and battling lots of "bloody hell this is hard, why on earth am I doing this?" thoughts but I know they are normal in a race. If you dont feel like that, you're not running hard enough.  It was here that I could see the 70 minute mark being more in line with my time as by now I was just running at a consistently slower pace. I paced the last kilometre knowing that I didnt have anything fantastic left in me. I had given it my best and thats all I could have done.

On Runkeeper my time was 69:10. My official time might be a smidge less as it took me a little while to get to the start line. Who knows, I'm going with 69. 

It was raining very lightly for most of the race but I was ok with that - its the wind that I hate and luckily it was calm. Oh and I must say, my injury totally behaved it self today. I had a slight niggle in my left ITB between the 3 and 2km mark and mild discomfort in my glutes but overall I felt really good.

Within 5 minutes of finishing the rain came in heavier. I got some water and ate an apple and then rang Peter to come and pick me up. I had planned to walk back to North Adelaide (only about 2kms, if that) but I didnt want to get wetter as we would have breakfast out straight away. We headed to The Store and I had a lovely cinnamon and honey porridge with almonds and sultanas and 1/2 a slice of banana bread. A lovely treat and well earned as my HRM was showing over 900 calories burned.

As I write this a few hours later my left leg is aching pretty badly so I'll get Peter to massage it later tonight. I may also reconsider running again on Tuesday. Whilst 10kms isnt a long distance, I had run it hard so some extra rest may well be in order.

Finally, I'm so glad I didnt pull right out of the race and did what I felt I could on the day. It was a rewarding run and one that I enjoyed - even when I thought I was dying LOL. The feeling of crossing the finish line knowing that I had it in me to tough out the hard parts, dig deep and push my limits was fantastic. I'm a runner and I love it.

:-) M