Utah Valley 10k

As I mentioned previously, today I ran in the Utah Valley 10k. For those who may not know the conversion, a 10k is 6.2 miles.

Lance, Will and I headed down to Lehi yesterday and spend some time with siblings. Then by 6am this morning, Lance and I were on the road to head to the race. We got there a bit early, but it gave me time to stretch and mentally prepare a little bit.

 Mostly ready to start the race.

 Can you tell I was excited?

I had two goals going into this race.
1-To run the entire time. No walking. No bathroom breaks. No stopping for water.
2-To finish in less than 70 minutes.

I was pretty sure I could accomplish the first goal, but I was a little nervous about the second. When I started running, I averaged about a 12 min mile pace, and that was fast for me. I've been working on my speed and trying to get faster. When I did my long run last week, my pace was about 11 minute miles. So I figured if I could somehow maintain an 11 minute mile the whole time, I should be able to finish in less than 70 minutes.

When the race finally started, I was feeling pretty good. I had a decent pace and was determined to keep it. The first mile alternated between slight decline and slight incline. When we got to the first mile marker, I was surprised how fast I got there and was feeling good. I was running to the Wicked Soundtrack, as well as some really upbeat songs. (Weird, I know. But Wicked makes me happy.)

And then around 2.5 miles, I started feeling sore. It was my first time running with my water belt and in order to keep it from sliding up to my chest, it had to be super tight. My stomach was in knots and I almost doubted myself for half a minute.

Then the 3 mile marker showed up. I was both relieved to see it, and reminded that I still had more than half way to go. I know that running is such a mental game, so I told myself that this was easy and I would finish no problem.

Around 3.5 miles, we started going up a decent hill. Not super steep, but enough of an incline to feel it and wear me out. I'd estimate we climbed for at least 1/2 mile or so. But once that climb was over, the rest of the way was downhill.

It was so motivating to have people all along the road, always cheering and giving you high fives. It was so fun and really kept me going. It didn't matter if they were there to support someone else, their presence helped.

I had some apple slices in my pack and started nibbling on those around mile 4. Because I had my own water, I never needed to grab a cup from an aid station. Even though my pack was slightly annoying because of how tight it was and I had to constantly adjust it, I was super glad I had it. I like to take small sips of water often, and the water stations weren't close enough for my liking.

Once I got past mile 4, I was feeling good again. And when I saw mile 5, I knew the end was getting close. My thought process was, the faster you go, the sooner you'll be finished. It helped that I could see the finish line and the end was in sight. The last quarter mile was packed with people cheering you on. I sped up and finished strong.

Throughout the race, I passed very few people, but I was being passed constantly. I had to remind myself that I couldn't compare myself to others and that I was only racing myself.

After I crossed the finish line, I was given a medal, had some pictures taken, and ate a few snacks. Then I check my results....and my time for 6.2 miles was...

1:02:53

I beat my goal by over 7 minutes, making my average time just over 10 minutes. I am completely shocked. I did NOT feel like I was running near that speed at all, but I was super happy to find that out. I know that my speed was faster because it was mostly downhill, but I don't care. I'm still happy about it. I tried using Endomondo to track it, but I forgot to turn it off right at the finish line so it might be a little skewed. But according to Endomondo, here is a breakdown on my miles.
1 - 9:34

2 - 9:34
3 - 10:01

4 - 10:23

5 -10:36

6 - 10:13

The pictures are a big deceiving as they say Marathon Finisher, but I only did the 10k.

While I felt like I could have gone a bit further, 7 miles more than this seems a bit daunting. It really made me nervous for my half marathon in August. But I'm still determined to do it, and I am lucky I have several weeks to train.

Special thanks to Lance for going to support me. It really meant a lot to me

It's weird to think that I went from this...

Just a few months ago to running a 10k now.