Kickin' Assphault 10K

If there are any of you who are just dying to read about the time Jeff and I had in Washington D.C., you'll just have to wait a little longer. I do have those posts in progress in draft form, but I'm still processing the trip in my mind, so I'm not ready to post those yet.

What IS fresh on my mind, however, is the 10K I ran yesterday!! So, you'll get a re-cap of that race instead! I have a lot of thoughts swimming around in my mind for this post, so it could get a little lengthy. If you're not interested in my running "career," you mind find this post less-than-interesting.

First, I should disclose that it technically was not my first 10K. I did run one once before in something like 2007. At that time, I was running a lot, and had thought I might try to train for a triathlon. So, when Midnight Madness came around, which is a very popular summer race event in my hometown, I decided I'd "train" for my triathlon by doing the Midnight Madness bike race, then following it up with a 10K. I did great in the bike race- finishing as the first-place female finisher.

But then there was the 10K.

Let's just say I don't recommend biking a hard bike race, resting minimally, and then attempting one's first 10K. The race was miserable. I walked a ton. I did not respect the distance, which was more than I'd ever run at the time. It was hot. I was tired. I finished with a horrible time, but what's worse is that I felt absolutely awful in body and spirit afterwards. My self-inflicted poor performance in that race caused me to decide on the spot that I'd never attempt anything longer than a 5K again.

Fast forward three moves, one knee surgery, and seven years later to this summer.

Recently, I have been doing many 5Ks and had gotten to the point where I felt like I was ready for the next challenge. I had been dropping tons of time with each race I did, feeling great mentally and physically strong, thanks to lots of effective cross-training. I started looking into upcoming races and thought that it might be time to try a 10K.

The Kickin Assphault 10Kwas appealing for many reasons. It was close to home (Ok, Great Falls is 2.5 hours away, but to me that's close!). I had a feeling the 10K wouldn't be super popular with the Half Marathon distance being the headliner for this event, all the better. Also, I had thought a lot of the Montana running community probably would have done the Bozeman Marathon/Half-Marathon the previous weekend and may not be interested in another big run. I researched the route and it looked great, so there was that. Lastly, an early morning run (7:45 start time) meant less chance of running in the heat.

With a specific race in mind, I decided this time to actually plan out a training schedule for increasing my running distances. If I could start and stick with the first few weeks of the training schedule, I'd go ahead and actually sign up for the race. Needless to say, I did stick with it and ended up increasing my mileage from about 7-10 miles to between 10-14 miles a week, with steadily increasing long runs once a week or so. I took the plunge and finally signed up for the race about three weeks ago.

The afternoon before race day, I drove down to GF and stayed overnight in a hotel, since I wasn't interested in waking up at about 4:00 a.m. and driving down the morning of the race. This worked out well because I had a chance to pick up my race packet the night before, too. Then, I had a great meal at Moonshine Grill (Eggplant Parmesan- yum!) and slept great in the hotel. I woke up Saturday morning feeling fresh, well-rested, and most important- mentally ready.

Race T-shirt and swag from the race, along with my finishers medal.
The shirt is a techincal tee that is HUGE on me. :/ At least the design is cool!

The race was held at the Giant Springs Picnic Area, behind Fish, Wildlife and Parks on Giant Springs Road, and the route followed an asphault (duh!) paved bike/walking path along the Missouri River. Here's a link to a map of the route: Kickin Assphault 10K Route. The weather was cool- in the low 40's at the start of the race. It was also mostly cloudy and, thankfully, not even the slightest bit windy. Truly ideal weather for running.

I spent significant time jogging, dynamic-stretching and overall warming up, since it was cool, and I wanted to be warm and ready for the distance. It was not a big crowd for the race- I'm thinking between 50 and 100 people. At about 7:40 we gathered at the starting area. 7:45 with the sound of a starter's gun, we were off.

For once, I actually paced myself and went out a little slow at the start of the race. Looking back, however, I do wish I had actually gone out faster. I didn't know what kind of hills the course would have in store and the race actually started out with almost a half-mile of downhill. Now I wish I had capitalized on that.

I should have known, having actually done some walking and biking on the trails the race followed before, that there would be some hills, but I didn't think of it. There were about three significant, long, long, never-ending hills to climb throughout the race. I struggled mentally with each one for a while, but willed myself not to walk. My mantra was, "My spirit is stronger than this hill." I also thought a lot about some of the very, very hard situations some of the kids I work with at school endure on a daily basis and reminded myself that running up a few hills is nothing compared to what they deal with. That kept me going, too.

Finish line for the race.
Race was timed with chip timers attached to our shoes that pinged when we crossed the magic carpets at the finish line. Pretty cool. 

When I came to some more level stretches in the race, I alternated some ten-second surges in with some pace running. I know that helped my overall time. I knew my overall average mile pace was slower than I normally run, but I was OK with whatever the results were going to be. I kept thinking throughout the race of my goal-times. I tend to do Good/Better/Best goals for races. For this one, it was Good- 65 minutes or less, Better- 60 minutes or less, and Best- 55 minutes or less.

After climbing and slogging up the last long hill, I knew the finish line was roughly a mile away, and tried to pick up the pace a little bit. The end was near and even though I couldn't see it, I could hear the announcer and I knew I was almost there. The last mile and extra .2 were one of my fastest splits, so motivation to finish definitely worked.

Then, I was there, receiving my finisher's medal, and reeling in the endorphins and pride for having finished the race. It felt so good to be done and to have accomplished finishing the race! I finished in 1:00.04, so pretty much aligned with my "Better" goal. I feel great about the time, especially considering all the hills I hadn't been prepared for. My next 10K, whenever that will be, will be even better! Now I have a time to measure myself against and try to beat.

As usual, representing Team Beef Montana! Felt so good to finish the race.
When's the next 10k??? Sign me up! 

Here are my split times--

Mile 0-1: 8:54.4
Mile 1-2: 8:29.49 / 17:23
Mile 2-3: 10:23 / 27:46
Mile 3-4: 11:16 / 39:02
Mile 4-5: 10:02.07 / 49:04
Mile 5-6: 8:39.25 / 57:43
Mile 6-6.2: 2:20.64 / 1:00:04

I did not stay for the awards or wrap-up ceremony, but as near s I could tell I was the seventh place female finisher overall. I feel good about that. Mostly, I just feel good about doing the race, putting in the time to train, sticking to my plan, and executing on race day.

This was the race tee from the Beat the Deadline 5K, that I had never posted.
It's a cozy, appropriately sized long-sleeve cotton tee. Perfect! 

What's next on my race schedule? The Opera Run in Bozeman on September 27. I'll be doing the 5K distance, and they also offer a 10 mile race. With all the training I've been doing for the 10K, I'm really hoping and going to work for a personal-best time in the 5K over the next few weeks. Wish me luck!