First Race Recap

I have read many race recaps from runners in the blog word and I am excited to finally write my own.  This weekend Bill, Evan and I traveled to Austin for the Capitol 10K, the largest 10K in Texas.  I will write tomorrow about all the excitement of the weekend, but today I wanted to do a race recap for you guys.

I signed up for this race in August 2011.  My friend Ashley, who began running  last year, had yet to run a 10K and we wanted to find something fun and big for her first one.  I think we accomplished that goal.  The Capital 10K is the largest 10K in Texas, and Texas is the second largest state in the country, so that sounded big enough, right?  It was!  There were 23,000 people running the race.  Our group included Ashley, my dad, John and myself.   My dad and brother ran in the fun run category and there were so many people in the race that runners were finishing before they were even able to start.  WOW, runners literally stretched over 6 miles in downtown Austin.  To me, that is so awesome.

In the weeks before the race, my emotions would go back and forth between nerves and excitement.  I couldn't wait to see how far I had came and finally get a true picture of where my running fitness currently is. Ashley and I really wanted our "fans" to recognize us, so we purchased neon orange shirts to run in.  

Ashley is totally blowing me out of the water in the neon shirt department.  We also had to run in our "running sunglasses" because the sun was so bright. Yes, we are very serious runners.

Here's a pic of the other runners in our group:

Anyway, back to the race.  It started at 9:00 a.m. and Ashley and I didn't cross the start until 8:57 minutes later.  The race started out at the river and ran up Congress to the Texas Capital.  From there, we ran to the UT stadium.  We then turned and ran Lake Austin Drive and then back down the river back to Congress.  I decided not to run with my headphones and instead wanted to take in the spirit of Austin.  I must say they are still "keeping it weird" in Austin.

The first three miles of the race was pretty much uphill.  It was tough.  I am not sure what pace we maintained throughout the hills because the time was not displayed throughout the course.  Bummer, I know.  Somewhere around mile three we headed back down Ceaser Chavez along the river.  I felt really good throughout the first four miles.  However, somewhere around mile 4 1/2 I started getting really tired.  It seems like every race I mentally break down in the last 2/3 of the race.  I start doubting myself and thinking that I am not going to be able to maintain pace to the finish.  I'm not sure why I do that, but I wish I could fix it.  Right when I was about to quit, I heard a spectator yelling repeatedly "Your body is trained for this, do not listen to your mind."  It was exactly what I needed to hear and it kicked my butt into gear.  I will know be yelling that at the final mile of any race I watch.

Ashley and I had a goal to finish in under an hour and our time was 59:08, a 9:30 pace.  Not bad for my first post-pregnancy race.  Ashley did amazing and could have ran faster, but she graciously slowed down for me to get water many times.  She has come such a long way and has gained so much confidence as a runner.  I cannot wait to run more races with her.  We have big plans people, big plans!

I wasn't able to get any pics of Ashley and I crossing the finish line, although I think we should get a few from the race organizers in a week or so.  I stood at the finish line to watch my dad and John cross, turned to ask Bill for the camera so that I could take a picture and my mom said "Oh look, there they are."  So, we didn't get a picture of them finishing, but did get this:

You can see day in the first row of people, at the end in the blue shorts with white stripes.  I promise, they did not walk across the finish line.

Now for the post race pics:

My favorite favorite fan and I:

My nephew was a pretty good fan as well, although I am sure he was probably there to cheer for his daddy:

I wish I would have taken a picture of Bill and I, but he was the photographer, so we completely forgot.

Race Stats:

Date:  March 25, 2012
Time: 9:00 a.m. (note to race administrators:  You live in Texas, all running should be completed before 9:00 a.m.)
Weather: HOT
Course: hilly but fast
Overall:  Had a blast and so excited to be back.