Girls on the Run 10k Re-Cap!

Well, I did it. I completed my first official 10k race. I had done a virtual one back in March, but somehow that just wasn't quite as intense as the one I encountered on Saturday. Although the race was held at Roger Williams Park in Providence - which I have now attended two other races on those grounds - each time the route is different. This route seemed a bit easier hill wise than the one I did last month, but then again, it could be that the hill work I'm incorporating in my half marathon training is paying off.

The day started with the weather forecasters promising crazy heat...well into the 90's. My thought was that since the race started at 9am, the heat wouldn't be taking hold yet. I'd have time to finish before the threat of burning up like an astoroid hurdling through space took hold.

I was wrong.

The first 3 miles of the race I felt really strong. I mean I felt GREAT. I had a very steady pace going (target was 10:30-10:40 minute miles) and I was running up hills with minimal effort. The temp outside at this point was still ok and there was a bit of a breeze when we'd hit the shaded sections of the course (which was minimal...). The heat started to sky rocket and the breeze die down I'd say half way into mile 4. But before I get to the struggle that was miles 5 & 6 & 6.2 ...let's take a moment to talk about the MENTAL part of this run. The battle that waged in my brain as I watched hundreds of people finishing up at the 5k finish line while I, begrudgingly, continued on.

In this race you could register as a 5k or 10k. Once the 10k folks hit the 5k finishing area, we veered left and continued on. I found that my brain started to shout things at me like "you can stop" - "its getting too hot" - "why aren't you stopping" - "you missed the exit" and other assorted items. It seems once I saw a finish line, even knowing it wasn't MY finish line, the mind tried to pull rank. Its this unbelievably difficult war in which your body says "let's keep going" "we can do this, we feel great!" (that would be the legs talking by the way) - but the mind freaks out. I made it pretty clear to my brain that we weren't stopping, after all, I felt strong, I felt really great.

And then the heat kicked in.

Half way through mile 4, I began to feel dehydrated. There were water stops at every mile for the remainder of the 10k and it felt like a year in between each one of those water stops. Plus my Nike+ app was not matching the mile markers. I would think I had a mile just about done only to realize it was registering the mileage WRONG. And not wrong by a tenth of a mile, but off by HALF A MILE! So on top of the heat, on top of the hills, on top of the no shade - my Nike app was tricking my brain into thinking we were closer to water breaks and finish lines than we really were.

Once I completed mile 4, I started to get chills. I was taking two cups of water, one to dump on my head and another to drink - but it just wasn't working. I realized, to my dissappointment I needed to stop and walk a bit. There were not many of us around at that point. It seemed that the super fast 10k folks were long, LONG gone and then there were those of us in the middle some where - alternating walking and running and trying not to faint. It was hard to let myself walk, REALLY hard. My goal for running is to be able to keep running...even if I have to slow down super duper slow (that's a technical term...lol) - just don't stop, don't walk. I know walking is okay in races and I know that when I tackle that 13.1 miles in Sept I will most likely need a little walking time - for 6.2 miles I knew I was stronger than what I was showing on saturday. But the heat kicked my ass and I just didn't have it in me to push any harder than I was. I picked up again with a run to finish out mile 5, but then got hit with some pretty bad swelling in my hands from the heat and felt a little lightheaded...again I slowed to a walk and said outloud...quite loudly...pardon my french here..."what the fuck!". The mind started to play games with me "told ya so, told ya so..." and the negativity committee had set up shop in my brain telling me this was the most ridiculous thing...what was the point of pushing myself like this.

And then the legs took over and said "to cross the finish line!". And my heart said "you got this kid!".

I gulped down the last of my water, threw the cup and ran pretty solid all the way to the mile 6 marker. I was soooo close to finishing when the chills returned, I slowed to a walk for a minute and then ran up the last hill toward the finish line where the announcer actually announced my name as I crossed the finish line. It was an amazing, incredible feeling to know that I perservered and finished what I set out to do.

All that said...

My time and pace SUCKED. Took me an 1hr 18min to do 6.2 miles. My average time when I've done this distance in my 'hood is 1hr 7min. It is beyond frustrating to walk away from this 10k with a time like that one. I placed 45th out of 65 runners. And although I was not thrilled with that placement, I'll take it. But then...I had a little bit of a revelation...

Out of the original 300+ runners at the start line, only 65 of us decided to register to go the extra distance, to challenge ourselves and push. And to be one of those 65 is a TRUER reflection of my passion and accomplishment than any time or pace.

stay strong!

Rachel