The tale of two 10K races

Last week, I ran two 10 k races and they could not have been more different, but I learned so much from both experiences.

Thursday Ashland Farm 10k/5K/2K Thanksgiving Race.

This was the 19th annual race and there must have been 1000 people there.  Laura and I ran it and I got my 10K PR shaving 11 minutes off my time from May.  It was a gorgeous sunny day in the Virginia sunshine and the temp was close to 57 when we finished.  I was disappointed on the race route that was thru a neighborhood at the end and the 10 K runners overlapped with the 5 K walkers who didn’t feel the need to move to the right at ALL.

I had to dig deep and run my race the whole way since this was with my daughter and she can really RUN. She hung with me for the first mile and then, like the graceful swan that she is, she took off. I could see her ahead of me and I think my swollen prideful heart pulled me along for at least two miles. At mile 4, I was hot and I was ready to be done, so I remembered her training words to me to almost any question.. “run faster”

I finished the last 2 miles at my best pace to date.

Sunday, Harvest Hustle Short Beach 10 K/5K.

This race was rescheduled from Nov. 4 due to Hurricane Sandy and needless to say the route had changed. So, instead of running along the beach road, we ran uphill in the neighborhood and then downhill to the beach and then repeat for the 6.37 mile run.

Between the reschedule date, the holiday weekend and the 30 degrees, the turnout was less than expected. I met some great ladies, but  I have to decide for the next race, either I run or volunteer.  I kept chatting and encouraging folks instead of focusing on my race.  My time was 1:07:00.

We all stayed for the medals and I am pretty sure I placed for my age group since I think there were 3 of us!  I was smoked at the end by a 62 year old who had a wicked kick.  She was behind me the whole way and just blew past me at the end and then high fived me and told me good race.  She said I kept her on pace the whole race.  Glad I could help.

So what did I learn?  I become a better racer by pinning on a bib.  I am stretched and pulled by heartstrings when I race with Laura.

I encourage and love to teach when I race with others.

I LOVE RUNNING.

Signed,

your galfriday4hire