Saturday, March 31, 2012

10 mile trail

Today was the Milford 10 10.  A race that consisted of a 10k and a 10 miler.  It was a great day for a race.  It could've been cooler, it was a tad hot.  My goal for this race was to finish in two hours.  I knew that it took me an hour to run Fancy Creek and that was five miles, so running a 10 mile trail should take about two hours.

I started the race running with Kelle.  Our first mile was in 8:36, a pace a lot faster then what I wanted to be running at.  However I felt good so I figured I would run with her until I couldn't any more.  Our 2nd mile was 9:16, by this point I knew that I wouldn't be able to keep up the pace for the rest of the race.  So I decided to slow it down to a nice easy to maintain 10 minute mile pace.  With the back half of the course a bit more technical I think I made a good call.

I ran by myself for a few miles, when I'd go to pass someone we would talk for a second wish each other good luck and go on.  I got to the half way point where my mom, the kids, and Uncle Harvey's wife Julie.  The boosted my confidence and I kept trudging along.

Around mile 7 or 8 I found a couple people and we started running together.  It was a guy and a very nice lady named Ruth.   Ruth and I ran together and she was a great help to keep me going.  We talked about our running, our families.  She is truly amazing, she has run marathons, ultras, 50k's, definitely an inspiration.  Did I mention that she is in her 50's?  And she just picked up running again in 2004 after taking 20 years off to raise a family.

At mile 9 I told Ruth that my goal was to finish in 2 hours.  She said that was her goal too.  We both looked down at our watches and we had only been running for 1:30 and something.  We both said we are going to crush that.

With about three quarters of a mile left I started pulling away from Ruth.  Once I hit the cross country course I saw my running buddies, Cleo, Richard, Kelle, and Kim.  They were there to cheer me us on.  I took off down the hill, I looked up and saw the time of 1:46!  I crushed my goal.  I cheered Ruth to the finish and went and found my running buddies.

Lacey asked if I was going to get a medal, and I told her probably not.  There were 71 finishers in the 10 mile race, I knew the chances of me placing were slim but I had finished and that was all that mattered!  When they called my name for 3rd place in my age group I almost fell over.  It was a great day for the group of ladies I run with.  Cleo ran the 10k and took 3rd in her age group, Kelle took 3rd in her age group, and Kim took 1st in her age group.

At the end of the award ceremony they do a raffle and I won a North Face pullover running jacket!!  WOOHOO!!
Add caption

In order from left to right
Me (3rd), Cleo (3rd), Kelle (3rd), and Kim (1st)
We are BEASTS!!

Bring on the half in 2 weeks!! 
I also got the pleasure of meeting fellow runner and blogger  Angela.  She is a Middle School Counselor and an awesome runner!!  I got to cheer her to the finish!

No comments:

Post a Comment