This morning I ran the Surf-n-Santa 10 Miler. It was another race in Virginia Beach put on by J&A Racing. They put on a great race. Everything is so organized and fun. There are always great costumes! (For this race, I donned my best Santa outfit - all black running clothes, my $10 underwear Santa skirt and bra from Roses, my candy cane striped socks, my Christmas tiara, and my Christmas tree earrings. Quite festive, if I do say so myself!) They also had carolers and radio stations and we ran under the Christmas lights on the Boardwalk.
This is only the second time in my ENTIRE LIFE that I have run this distance. I mean, seriously, 10 miles is a long way. If I left my house and starting running south, I could get to North Carolina and have a BBQ sandwich in 10 miles. Normal, sane people just don't run 10 miles. (If you are not detecting a theme throughout these posts, I will spell it right out for you. Runners are crazy people. I am getting pulled to the dark side. I don't love it, but I don't mind it so much. I am starting to embrace the crazy.)
Anyway, just like the Wicked 10K in October, the race started at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. I left my house at 6:30 am (yep, in the morning) to get there and get parked in time for the race to start at 8:00. (Glad I wasn't running too late. Some of the ladies that I met this morning waited for 40 minutes to get into the parking lot. I didn't have that problem.....which is good. It would have stressed me out to be running late.) I got parked, got all of my running stuff, and headed into the warm convention center to find a real, flushing, non portable toilet. As usual, the line for the ladies' room was approximately 500 miles long. I did some walking around and found a super secret one in the exhibit hall that had no line. While I was on my search, I ran into my friend Jenny. She pushes a stroller for Team Hoyt. I got to meet the amazing little kid that was racing with her and I checked out their gingerbread woman/gingerbread house costumes. It's always great to see a friendly face in the sea of runners.
Then I headed back outside to meet the lovely ladies of Moms Run This Town for a group picture. Since some of the ladies were stuck in traffic, the picture was a little late. A few people had moved the waiting game to the porta potty line and missed the picture. I got to see my new running friend, Kris, who I met at the Wicked. After a quick picture with most of the ladies that were there, we rushed off to our corrals for the start.
Not being one who likes to be rushed or late, I started to get a little panicky when there was a line to get into the corral and no room for any more people. Once the gun went off for the first corral, the others starting moving up, which made room. However, the last corral moved up without letting all of the people waiting in. I ended up in corral 4. That was not going to work out for me, so I worked my way up to corral 3 just in time for the start. (Hey, my bib said 3 and I was going to start in 3!)
There was also a 5K race today and both races started at the same time and ran the same route. There was a lot of traffic at the start. I started running and just kept running. There was no place to stop and walk. All of a sudden, I saw mile marker 1. I knew that I wouldn't be able to keep that up for too long, so I set my watch, found a hole, and started my intervals. There were a few times when it made sense to keep running when the watch beeped - too many people, no place to stop, didn't even hear it.
At 3 miles, the 5K split off to go to the finish line. The 10 miler kept going. Right at the split, I got caught up with a church group. They were dressed as a Nativity Scene and they were singing Christmas carols. I tried for miles and miles to get past them, but I couldn't. Maybe it was their singing or maybe I was trying to decide if I would actually be able to finish, but somehow I completely missed mile marker 4. I starting thinking about it when my watch said 45 minutes and I ate my first GU Chomps. I had planned to eat them at mile 4, but I never saw the sign. I was as excited as a little kid on Christmas morning to see a man giving high fives at mile marker 5. I was halfway there and somehow missed a whole mile!
Once we passed 5, the run started to get easier. It was just happening. I was still with the nativity scene. They were still singing. At about mile 5 1/2, they decided to start running Indian sprints. They kept that up for about 2 miles. I was in awe and they kept my spirits up. At about mile 6, I caught up with some girls dressed as gingerbread men. I started the race right behind them. (I know it was them because they had "Run, Run as Fast as You Can" and "You Can't Catch Me" on the backs of their outfits.) I tried to stay with them at the beginning of the race, but they got away from me. I couldn't even keep them in my sights. Then, at mile 6, there they were again. I thanked them for making my day. It took my 6 miles, but I caught them and I passed them. I got past the nativity at about mile 8. I ate my last 4 GU Chomps after I got past them. The last 2 miles were calm and bright. I am hoping it was the GU. The crowd had thinned out considerably and I could do my intervals with no problems.
Amazingly, I was passing people. We got to mile 9 and the home stretch. With about 1/2 mile to go, I turned off my intervals and just ran to the end. The race finished inside and when we came around to the back of the building, I saw my wonderful husband and beautiful children clapping and cheering. That gave me the energy that I needed to finish. A man caught up to me right as we were heading inside. He reminded me to smile for the camera. Then he ran past me. I decided that I wasn't going to let him cross the finish line in front of me. I found a burst of speed from my inner Kenyan and I passed him again right at the line. I got my medal and my finisher glass. I looked up and saw my friend Kris who finished in a super fast time. I came around the corner and saw my family again. I got hugs and kisses from my biggest cheerleaders and then we headed home.
My goal for this race was to finish. I hoped to finish in about 2 and a half hours. (That would have shaved 9 minutes off of my last 10 mile long run.) My 5K and 10K splits were not promising. In fact, they were a little discouraging. My 10K split was the same time as my Wicked finishing time and that was in a hurricane. Surprisingly, I wasn't all that concerned about it. I knew that I would be able to run 4 miles in less than an hour when I saw the 10K split. I knew that, despite the slower pace than the last few races, I would finish in less than 2:30. Really, it came down to the face that I got the time I needed to submit to Disney. Today, I just needed to run.
When I saw the clock at the finish, I realized that I had CRUSHED my time goal. Official time was 2:09:21 (exactly the same as my watch time!) I wasn't fast.....I was far from it, but I ran 10 miles today. I ran one mile without stopping and then ran 9 more after that. I ran when my watch said I should walk. I stopped my watch and ran to the finish. I was able to sing along with my music (in my head, but there was a time in this training adventure when I couldn't even do that because I had to concentrate on breathing). I laughed at the jokes on the Boardwalk. (How many reindeer does it take to screw in a lightbulb? 1 to screw in the lightbulb and 7 to hold Rudolph down.) I had fun. (Yep, read that again....it says that I had fun.) I ran 10 miles this morning and it was fun. (Don't get me wrong, it was work. My toes started to ache at about mile 7. My water belt made my skirt ride up so I was mooning all of the people behind me. I ran out of water in the bottles. The GU Chomps, while wonderful for energy on the course, tend to make my stomach cramp for a while after the race is over. It was work.)
My watch splits are off because of missing at least 1 mile marker (there may have been more....not quite sure.) But, I do have my official results. I am very proud of myself. I did it! I ran faster than 380 people for 10 miles. I will take it. Princess Half Marathon, here I come.
Today's Stats:
10 miles in 2:09:21 (12.56 minute mile)
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