10K

“I tell our runners to divide the race into thirds. Run the first part with your head, the middle part with your personality, and the last part with your heart.” – Mike Fanelli


Yesterday I raced in my first ever 10K!  It was a scenic and moderately hilly run through Pecos, New Mexico.  The race was the Amanda Lynne Byrne Memorial Run, in memory of a teenage girl who was hit by a train while running a few years ago.  The race event is a fundraiser to provide a scholarship to a student at Pecos High.

Pecos, New Mexico
I find the 10K to be a challenging distance: not quite the endurance event of a half marathon, yet I'm unable to maintain my 5K pace.  I have had to focus a lot more on my core and alignment, as well as my eating habits, while training for this distance.  One week before the race I did my last long run and was incredibly disappointed to feel my long-gone knee pain making a comeback after about 45 minutes.  I dedicated a lot of time to core strengthening, icing and foam rolling the week of the event, and it must have paid off because my knees were pain-free during the race!

I completed the race just shy of my 60 minute goal.  I found a good pace during the run, didn't start out too fast, kicked butt on the hills, and was able to finish strong.  Overall I was pretty happy with my results for the first race of the season.  My biggest challenge was extreme stomach cramping during the last half of the race and for a few hours afterwards.  I will need to try some different types of food and make a new pre-race diet plan before my next event.

Running Buddies with our awards!
The highlight of the day was that my running buddies and I all went home with an award!  I was third in my age group, and my friends won second and first place in their groups!  We received beautiful, hand-made ceramic mugs.

My next event of the season is the Santa Fe Half Century bike ride in May, followed by the Atomic Man Duathlon in June, and my sister and I are searching for a fun half marathon to do later this year for a Sisters Weekend!


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