Sunday Summary: Garmin Nightmares

I have had dreams, and I Have had nightmares, I overcame the nightmares because of my dreams.

~Anonymous

Today was my first race of the year. It was a 10K, the same event as I did last year, but on a different course. Last years was completely F-L-A-T. This one was pretty flat, but had a few little ups and downs because of road overpasses. I blogged yesterday about the amazing sleep I have had over the past few weeks. Last night was almost no exception. I still slept 8 hours, but I dreamt alot. I even had a nightmare that my Garmin battery was dead for this morning's race. I woke up, got dressed, had a piece of toast and got in the car to drive the whopping 3 miles to the race. While my car was warming up I put on my Garmin only to find that the battery was dead by race time.

Yeah, nightmare come true. I was bummed and focused on all the runners with Garmin's and iPods and stayed jealous too long. I went out with what I thought was the slightly faster than 10 minutes group, only to find they were the 8-9 minute group that leaned on the 8 min side. Mile one was about 9:35 according to a guy hollering out times, but I had slowed significantly prior to this point, the first half mile was too fast. No other mile markers were on the course except the turn around and I didn't have a watch to see how I was doing. The other mentally challenging part of this race was my familiarity with the course, I knew it was taking long to get to certain points and I had to constantly remind myself to run and not shuffle. I allowed myself a 20 foot walk break at a water station which was nice, but it made me realize my hamstrings were still really cold. I got back to the mark where the guy was hollering out times. This time he said, "1-mile to go, 53:05." I was momentarily discouraged because I had secretly hoped I would break 1:00. I didn't tell anyone because I knew it was a pretty lofty goal. That moment passed and I booked it to the finish. It is amazing how a 9:36 mile at the end of a 10K feels like you are run sub-7. I was huff'n and puff'n. My lungs hurt and I was trying so hard to finish and leaving it all on the course.

Final unofficial time: 1:02:41. We'll see what they post in the next couple of days. This was not a chip timed race, but the field was small so I don't think I lost too much time at the start. In case you were wondering, this is a PR. A pretty BIG PR. Woo Hoo, Yay for me!

My biggest fan.

Why I Kick A$$: I just PR'd my 10K time on a harder course by 12 minutes and 5 seconds. (That is my happy dance below)

Things to consider for next time:

• Warm up pre-run. Being a slow runner, I have never wanted to "waste" energy on a warm up, I need it for the course, right? I am re-thinking this.
• What does going all out mean? I pushed really hard the last mile, I felt it, I focused on it, I needed to walk for a couple minutes just to catch my breath after. Then 10 minutes later I ran effortlessly the quarter mile to the breakfast line. If I had gone all out, wouldn't I not have energy to run?

Thankful Three

1. My PR prize is having a lunch date with the hubby and watching Country Strong. It will be torture for the Hubby, but he loves me that much.
2. That I have fans, thanks for the applause Bug
3. For my sweet skull gloves from the $1 bin at Target over Halloween, I always get compliments.