Monday, July 16, 2012

It's All in the Name: A Recap

When I signed up for the Toughest 10K in Texas last year, I didn't think much of the name.  It was a pretty cheap race, and about 1/2 hour from my house, so I figured why not?

I don't remember much of last year's race.  It was tough....it was hot, at some point in the run I got a little delirious....I won first in my age group and 3rd overall....all in all it was a pretty good race.  AND I do remember the hills.  I remember them being constant and I remember them being steep.  My time was 45:43.

Fast forward to this year....I wasn't looking to win this race, I really just wanted to beat last year's time.  Erin and Jessica were running it this year so I knew it would be nice to see some familiar faces there. (And Dan Erin's husband decided to run it also)

We got there about an hour before the race and picked up our packets and started getting ready.  We warmed up with a slow mile and then sat down for some stretching and rolling.


It was really nice out...probably around 75 degrees.  I knew it would be warming up fast though and I could already feel the humidity!
8am came and we were off....
I started out with a pretty fast first mile...Here are my race splits:

Mile 1: 7:12
Mile 2: 7:44
Mile 3: 7:40
Mile 4: 7:48
Mile 5: 7:47
Mile 6: 6:42
Total time:  44:56

My garmin said 5.9 miles.
BUT this was the same distance I ran last year...
So I met my goal and did better than last years time by almost a minute!

After Mile 1 is where the hills begin so you can see I start really slowing down.  The hills in this race are brutal!  You get up one and then there is another.  At mile 3 I started really struggling.  I wasn't being able to catch my breath and I just felt out of it.  I took half a shot block and told myself that if I didn't feel better in the next mile I would walk.  That negative "you need to stop now your lungs are going to explode!" voice was screaming in my ear.  It was telling me it would be ok to walk, no one would really care if I didn't do as well as last year, etc...

I am so glad I pushed through this hard part of this run....because the last miles, though not super easy, were definitely better.


Here I am coming in to the finish line!  I was so happy it was over and at that point I told myself I would never run this race again...EVER!
(Of course I have to next year though, so I can beat this year's time!)

Erin won 2nd place and Jessica finished first in her age group!
I was so glad to have my friends there!

Thanks to Sean for being there to support me at all my races.  And of course little Phene!

I felt a little sore for the rest of the day but all in all I didn't have too much pain.  I did yoga yesterday which I think really helped.

This race is so perfectly named...it really is the Toughest 10K in Texas!








3 comments:

  1. You definitely weren't lying about the hills :) I'm so glad we decided to run this, and it was so nice hanging out with you guys there!

    Congratulations! I knew you would be faster this year :)

    And, thank you for the photos!

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  2. Wow! All you guys are speedy! Great job on the race!

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  3. Okay, you ran 7's WITH hills?!!!!! You are my hero!

    Way to go with an awesome PR. Your friends look fast...like you. :)

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