Ten for Texas

Just a quick recap of this mornings adventure to the Woodlands for my Ten for Texas 10 miler (the names a bit of a giveaway right?!) 

I did, as predicted PR. But as this was my first ever 10 mile race that only required a finish. 

The plan was to start off at around 6:40-6:45 pace and then after 3/4 miles pick it up to 6:30-6:25. I didn't manage that pace, here are my splits:

6:37, 6:40, 6:49, 6:45, 6:45, 6:46, 6:59, 7:06, 6:42, 6:45 and 20 seconds for the extra 0.06 my garmin registered (I find it second nature to 'run the tangents' growing up running on country roads this was simply known as 'run the shortest route possible without getting hit by a car'. 

So an official time of 68:17.

So LOTS of 6:45s and then a couple of really rough miles in which I felt every ounce of energy exit my legs and be replaced with cement! But around the 8 mile mark I got through it and was able to push on again, which was nice. I felt like I was climbing from around the 2nd mile all the way until just after the 5th. I kept telling myself 'what goes up...' as the start and finish were virtually the same place but my rear end complained quite a lot the whole way back! 

I did feel strong in this run (apart from those 2 miles) it's not the time I hoped for, well I didn't really know what to expect but I'm semi happy with how it went. 

I tried to catch a female runner for miles and eventually got her with 0.7 to go and then had to push to the end as I could hear her try to get back to me. That was not fun but hearing my kids shout 'GO MUMMY' as I rounded the last bend was the best and I held her off. My 'victory' was short lived, we tied on chip time 68:17.4! I don't mind sharing the result with her, she worked hard for it too! 

I was 38th overall, 11th female and 2nd in my AG. I managed to grab my trophy before we had to leave to get home for soccer. 

I'm definitely making progress but there's still a long way to go. I need to keep working hard and am looking forward to getting some benefit from big miles when I EVENTUALLY get to do them (yes I am impatient as ever). 

I also need to lose weight, nothing drastic but I know I'm heavier than I ought to be (who needs to carry any extra round 26.2 miles?!) I have just dropped 5 lbs recently by cutting out my 'post kids to bed snackathon' that I'd throw myself every evening in celebration of making it through another day ;) so will stick with that for a little while longer to maybe drop around 5 more. I don't like feeling too thin, that's only ever happened to me once before when I was 16 and the 1st thing my new coach did was put me on a diet. I could only lose 7 lbs but looked and felt awful, so WEAK and like a bag of bones, my running also turned to ****! I have zero intention of EVER returning there, I am all about being strong and healthy. 

I have 10 miles recovery tomorrow and my biggest week milage wise with 74 then it's back to the dreaded taper in preparation for The Houston Half on the 28th of October. 

I had my merry band with me today so my hubbie snapped some shots (actually he took 3 zillion pictures) here are just a few, well quite a lot actually!

 Where is she?

 Patiently waiting on me whilst I was telling myself the harder I pushed the sooner I'd see them!

So close! 

 She's just out of shot but I am determined not to be caught in this shot!

 I did not look like this during miles 7 and 8! 

My fellow 68:17.4 friend!  

 Really wanting to collapse on the pavement here but trying to be enthusiastic for the kids!

A drawing for me! 

 Over the photographer now.....!

Wardrobe change (1st and possibly only time in Lulu Lemon changing room!) Texting Doug, H and N my result. H, N and I harass each other on race days for instant results so I couldn't disappoint them! 

38th overall 

Cheesy! 

 Cheesier!