The conditions for my first 10K race this past Sunday were not exactly ideal. The previous four days leading up to the race, I'd come down with an annoying little cold. I was using up all of my efforts to get rid of it before Sunday's event, and pretty much succeeded. By Sunday morning, I was feeling better, in that my throat was no longer sore, and my sinuses seemed to be clear. Unfortunately, all of the rest that I'd given my body to get better did not serve as a good training tool for the run itself.
Luckily, the weather at Bear Creek Lake was really gorgeous on race day. The sun was out, and we were looking at temperatures in the 50s by 10:00am. The wind was really mild, and there wasn't a cloud in sight. The course itself did present some challenges, though. It was a fairly hilly run; much hillier than I'm used to running on the trails near our apartment. There were a couple of times where I had to make myself walk in order to get my heart rate down, and get back on track. And then the "rubber legs" started to set in. I felt a little wobbly in the last couple of miles, and really started regretting that I hadn't had the energy to get in a couple more runs the previous week.
I really only had one goal in mind for myself on Sunday: I wanted to finish the 10K in 1:08:00 or less. This time would get me into a qualifying heat for the Bolder Boulder race over Memorial Day weekend. In the middle of the race, I was seriously doubting the possibility of hitting this goal. I was just having an "off" day. But when I hit the 6 mile marker, I had 1:05:45 on my watch, and decided to give it my all to the finish line. I must have summoned some of my husband's finish-line sprinting energy, because all of a sudden my pace quickened, and my stride increased. In the end, I reached my goal, but just barely! I hit the STOP button on my watch and it read, (not exaggerating at all) 1:08:00. My official net time ended up being 1:07:56.
Last night, I submitted my time to the Bolder Boulder registration team. I have quite a bit of work to do before Memorial Day, but I am determined to make it happen. Maybe my goal on May 27th will be a sub-hour 10K!
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