And I ran my first 10K ever, my first race of 2014, and finished 2nd in the Females 20-29 age group!
(Now before you start thinking I'm an elite-runner, medaling and stuff, just know there were two in my age group. But still, I placed. In something. Ha! And received a fancy water bottle ta-boot!)
Today was fun! After an up and down week of emotions, it was great to not only great to get outside, set a new (and fastest) pace post-knee surgery, and finally get back into race-mode. Part of the run used a trail that skirts the river through the gorge that divides the city of Richmond. It was wonderful to be outdoors running the 6.2 miles set out in front of me, and to breathe fresh air. My, it was wonderful.
(And thank God the turn in to the gorge fell at mile 5. I needed a change of scenery, and the trail was perfect-ish. There were hills. And stairs. It was iffy. And ugly. Still more on that...)
The race started out as a combination of both 5K and 10K runners/walkers, starting at the local high school's football field, snaking out down the southside of town on to one of the main country roads. We ran, for what seemed like forever, down to mile 3/turn around point (in to the wind). I will say I didn't see my first water station until mile 3, which was a bit of a downer, and had only two during the entire 6.2 mile course. It wasn't the greatest, and I believe I'm feeling the effects a bit of slight dehydration due to it. (Or my own unpreparedness. I didn't have a belt or water with me: just gloves, my iPhone, and a pack of Honey Stinger Energy Chews to down at mile 4 - my bad.)
As we turned back to head towards Richmond, we ran forever, again, on the country road, however the wind finally to my back. Heading out was rough (though the wind wasn't as bad or as cold as previous runs this year), but coming back was wonderful. As we headed in to town, we split off to the right on to Test Road, and then down a valley away from Abington Pike, where we just came from.
My first thought, as I'm sprinting down this massive hill was, "Um, hey Ash. Ya know we're going to have to get back up some how, right? What goes down, must come up."
At first I thought, "you've got to be kidding me, that at mile 4+, you're going to make me run up this monster hill ahead of me?" But nope! Thankfully, at mile 5, the route took you to the left and in to the gorge along the paved trail.
(Side note: I now officially know why you shouldn't run in the gorge alone if you're female. I was in a pack of other female runners, 3 or 4 total, and one male runner, as we approached a total creeper just hanging out. Alone. EEEEK. I won't be running without Mr. K there any time soon...)
As we approached 5.5 miles, things started to turn up hill. And this is where the, "You've got to be kidding me," cursing that makes a hockey player blush started. I knew it couldn't be that much further, but this is where I figured out how we're getting out of the gorge and back to the finish line on the high school's track...
Up.
After one hellish hill I NEVER thought I'd survive, there were stairs.
Stairs. STAIRS.
Who in their psychotic offroad-running mind puts a set of stairs at the end of a 10K?
I wanted to die.
After putting some distance between another female runner who I kept trading leads with, and a couple that was hot on my heels, I kicked in to high gear. For the first flight. The second? Ha! Nope.
But I made it up both, ran across the parking lot, across the street, down the sidewalk, rounded the gate to the left, and BAM! Finish line!
My official gun time was 1 hour, 12 minutes, 13 seconds, breaking down to 11:36/mile - improving significantly while in a race setting from last Saturday's 12:05/mile/5 miler.
I'll take it!
After an emotionally-wrecking week, it was nice to be able to get back to a bit of normalcy, while knowing my mother in law was smiling down on me today. I said a few prayers while out running, mostly to get me through and to remind myself never to give up, but it was much-needed fun, and another great race to get me ready for the Mini in May.
Here are some more pictures from the day, from Mr. K or Speedy-Feet.com:
(Sorry for the last few grainy/blurry/crappy photos. But still, proof I survived! And didn't die! Who woulda thunk it?)
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