St Agnes Fitness Festival 10K

My next racing adventure came just one month after my 8K :) On Saturday April 16th I got up on a cold and rainy morning to drive more than 30 minutes to Arlington to participate in this community race. It took all the strength I had to drag myself out of bed that morning to show up to that race....start time was at 8AM which meant I had to leave my apartment by 7...on a Saturday.....in the cold and rain. But I did it. I was amped up to get the race started and found the waiting to be frustrating. Not only was it cold and wet (did I mention that already??) but hearing other runners lament about the course at the start line was working my last nerve. I didn't need to be feeling doubt before I even started!! Finally the race kicked off (15 min late) and off we all went on a really really hilly course through some neighborhoods in Arlington. When I hit the largest hill (which was as tough going down as it was up) I had a thought that made me shutter.....I was going to have to do this hill AGAIN!!! The course design was simple....a 5 K loop that us 10K runners would do TWICE! At the end of the 5K the happy shorter distance runners trucked along to the left and the rest of us to the right. Amazing how thin the herd got at that point :) Just ahead of me was a girl I was able to identify as a marathoner (had seen her in the pack at the start line and heard her talking). I decided at that moment (3.5 miles in to the 6.2 mile race) that I was going to keep up with her. And I am proud to say I did! She finished a mere 90 seconds ahead of me. Can't say that she's a good marathoner or not....no idea....don't even know her name. Just know that she has run and finished marathons...and I kept up with her....and that works for me :) By the time we ended the 10K...they had cleaned up the finish line inflatable (not because we are 2nd class citizens but b/c the wicked thunderstorms were rolling in) but the sweet elementary school students were waiting at the finish with bottles of water and big smiles to congratulate us. That totally made the day for me :) Dying for numbers yet?? Here's how I did that day:

Total time = 1 hour 6 min 25 sec
Place = 53/64 runners overall; 6/7 female runners age 30-34

All I know is....I didn't finish last....makes me happy!

Yuengling Shamrock Marathon Weekend 8K

On March 19th I ran an 8K in Virginia Beach during the Shamrock Marathon Weekend. They sponsor all kinds of races that weekend....the 8K being one of the first of the weekend long event for us running crazies :) You must be dying to know how I did....I sure was. That morning it was cold and rainy and I left my jacket in the car and regretted that decision almost a block away....but decided that once I started running...I would warm up and be okay without it. Turns out I was right. It was a great race....one I would repeat again in the future. Loved how large the turn out was....and while I didn't like getting over the start line and the big pack at first....it sooner out pretty quickly. Another fun aspect was how the race just seemed to slip by so quickly. I had previed the course map the night before and knew where we would make the turn to the boardwalk and then back out to the street and back to the boardwalk again. Since the blocks are numbered....it just seemed to move along so quickly! And I especially loved the scenary along the boardwalk....to just look out and see the ocean....ahhhh. Here's how the numbers fell out if you are a data kind of person (and I kinda am):

Total time = 54 min 26 sec
Place = 3805/7677 runners overall; 324/751 women ages 30-34

Not the pace or the overall time I was hoping for.....but progress...and I finished :) Stay tuned for more fun race results!