I hope all my American friends had an awesome 4th of July weekend! And I hope my non-American friends had a fantastic weekend!
I certainly had a great 3-day weekend! Friday was my first 10K race ever (Run San Ramon). Now, obviously I have run the 10K distance since I’ve done half marathons before. But this was my first official 10K race!
Friday I woke up at 5:50AM to eat (toast with peanut butter), get some fluids in me (1 glass of Nuun and 1 glass of water), and get dressed for my 4th of July 10K. My mom and I left our house at 7 to go pick up Kyle. We had no issues finding the race location and parking (one of the many benefits of participating in a local race).
I easily picked up my race bib (and free T-shirt) and then not so easily tried to affix my race bib to my running shirt. I can never do this without a mirror. I made my way to the porta-potty line which moved quickly. Loved that they had the portable sinks with soap too. For my newer runner friends, sinks with soap at races are rare (at least in my experience). Bring hand wipes and Purell unless you like running with poop hands.
About quarter-till the start time, I wanted to line up by the starting line. Actually the direction of the start was unclear so a bunch of us milled around until the director called everyone over. Before I knew it we were counting down. Crap. I forgot to sync up my watch.
The director yelled, “Go!” and we all took off. I ran by Kyle and my mom and made a frowny face cause my watch didn’t sync. I thought I was going to have to run by feel, which I’m horrible at. And then my watch satellite linked up and all was good. I could now relax.
This course was a simple loop- 5Kers ran 1 time around and 10Kers ran the loop twice. I actually preferred this because it helped me with my pacing. I brought my hand-held water bottle because I didn’t know where they would have water along the course. Glad I did. They had water in 2 spots but I was sweating a lot.
As I was running this race, I fell in love with the 10K. Long enough that I could get into my groove, but not as long as a half marathon where I’m exhausted the rest of the day. Before I knew it I had lap 1 down.
Lap 2 I was running by myself for most of it. A man and woman were ~30 feet in front of me, but that was it. Towards the end, we lapped a bunch of 5Kers who were walking the course. This was a little annoying because the lane was super narrow so I spent a good chunk of time weaving. I was getting tired because I swear it was (gradual) uphill most of the race. My last mile I tried to pick up the pace cause I knew I would be cutting it close to my 55:00 goal.
Official time- 54:47 (8:50 pace). I’m bummed because this time isn’t accurate. We had chips in our bibs but there was no chip start (only chip end). They gave everyone the same start time of 8:15 AM (which is not when most of us crossed the starting line). So most of our times are actually faster than our official times. Oh well.
My mom and Kyle quickly found me after I crossed the finish line. We chatted and then checked out all the free food! They had every type of popsicle/ice cream bar you could want, bananas, oranges, cookies, bars, water, and Gatorade. Too bad post-race Amy thinks ice cream and cookies sound awful. I took cookies to-go but too bad you can’t really take ice cream to-go…they call that soup.
My red, white, and blue outfit was not what I had wanted to do. I ran out of time and this was the best I could come up with.
We sat around a bit so I could get some fluids, a banana, and orange in me. Then we went and spun one of those wheel things (like on the Price is Right but much smaller) to win prizes. We each won a free 1 week gym membership and a free lunch!
We were going to head out and then I heard that they were about to announce winners. I was curious to hear the times so we waited. 5Kers first. Then they did 10Kers.
I wanted to hear what I would have needed to run if I wanted to place in my age group. And then they called my name. Apparently I placed 2nd in my age group! I know it’s a small race, but it still feels good!
I had tons of fun during this race and cannot wait to do it again next year! Looking back, I think I could have pushed myself a little bit harder, but it’s so difficult to know how to pace yourself for your first race. Overall, I’m pleased!
Huge thank you to all the volunteers on the course! A lot of them were cheering us on, handing out water, giving us mile splits, monitoring road blocks, and shouting at drivers who were driving too fast.
And the biggest thank you to Kyle and my mom for waking up early on your day off and then receiving sweaty hugs! The. Best.
After we got home I refueled with INrefresh and a taco salad :)
What’s your favorite race distance?
Did you race this weekend?
Ever place in a race? This was my first. A little bittersweet- it feels great to place but I also know it was a small race.
