10K Race Recap

I've been meaning to write this post for a while but I was waiting for the race photos to be released. They were, but the organization committee is charging like 30 bucks a photo, so I am using my own post-race photo instead. 


As you guys might remember, I signed up to run my first 10K a while back and spoke about my training plan and getting off track with it, here. I did try to run as much as possible during the month leading up to the race, but I ended up missing a handful of training days because of other unforeseen circumstances. 


This is why I was pleasantly surprised to find out that a 10K is totally doable for me! The 6.2 miles pretty much flew by. It didn't hurt that the race was in gorgeous Prospect Park in Brooklyn, and the scenery (or should I say greenery), was so lovely to look at while running. I am also definitely a fan of tapering, or running less the week of the race to give your body a rest and to guarantee you will be fully charged on race day. I didn't run the two days prior to the race, which meant by race day I was raring to go.

Me with my medal. 

Of course, everything wasn't perfect. I would have preferred a later start time, like maybe 9am. The race started at 7.30, which meant that I was out the door by 6am, while it was still dark out, so that wasn't too exciting. Next time I sign up for a race, I might make an effort to find out the start time beforehand. I was so nervous I thought I might oversleep and miss the race I barely got any sleep the night before anyway. 


The race itself went really well. I wasn't even aware that I was racing until the 4th mile or so. I had made a great playlist which powered me through tough bits and I tried to keep pace with a girl I had met before the race started, who happened to run at my speed. When she'd pull ahead, I'd try to keep up with her. It's good to have someone you are secretly sort of racing against because it motivates you. 


Except for the last mile, during which I got a gnarly stomach cramp, everything went well. In fact, I enjoyed myself so much, and was so proud of myself after, that I think I might sign up for a 15K or something in the future. I like racing a lot. There's just something fun about joining thousands of people to run. I saw lots of father-son, mother-daughter duos running as well as a  man who seemed to be physically disabled walking the race. It was inspiring. 


I ended up running the race in an hour and 5 minutes, which put my pace per mile at 10.30 minutes. I usually run an 11-minute mile. I'm slow and steady so the fact that I ran 10.30 per mile is pretty exciting. 


If you're thinking about running a race, I highly recommend it! It's fun and a great way to challenge yourself. Plus, if you start with a 5K (3 miles), it is totally doable if you allow 1 month to train. If you're in good shape physically, you might not even need training time!