Racing to Finish (05/10/09)
Whew! I can’t believe I finally finished this race. It’s been about 12 or 13 weeks since I first starting thinking about it! I had huge doubts about even running in it, after missing lots of training time during my trip to California, and then during the last two weeks before the race with my knee issues. That said, I decided yesterday that I would give it my best and just focus on finishing, instead of dazzling with an amazing time.
The race started at 9:30 yesterday morning. I am lucky enough to live right outside the race meeting point. I actually ran past our building at the beginning of the race! It was really the perfect 10K for my first event: the territory was familiar (all of it was covered on our practice runs), it was reasonably flat (one hill up a bridge and a few slight inclines), and there was a great energy with the sun shining and about 7,000 runners!
Because our building is on a main road, we were woken up around 5am to the sound of cones being dropped to close down the roads. I was up anyway with nerves. I don’t think I got much sleep at all! Out of habit, I got up and turned on my curling iron. Matt (aka the Stretching Nazi) shot out of bed and shouts, “what are you doing?! Go stretch and eat your oats!!”
Oats it was! I used the little pack of dried nuts and fruit from my latest graze box to top them. It was made of dried bananas, cranberries, and walnuts:
Breakfast: Oatbran (40g) made with water, topped with “cheeky monkey” goodies and 1/2 tsp. of maple
I couldn’t believe the sheer amount of people waiting to run. I was not prepared for how encouraging and spirited the crowd was!
There were blue Smurfs…
And a warm-up “class” at the square where everyone was waiting:
I felt like a little girl on the first day of school. A lot of people were running with friends or partners. Matt stayed with me until I had to go line up and then I was on my own. Do you like my sexy headband?
We were herded like cattle while waiting to go through the starting line. I’m in there somewhere 
Moo.
I paced myself really slow (too slow?) for the first half. I decided yesterday that my approach with this race would be to make it as enjoyable as possible. I wanted to want to do this again! So I didn’t end up pushing myself 110%. There wasn’t a point during the race that I wanted to die or throw up. That would not have made it fun!
I was trying to be as laid back as possible so I started out listening to The Dixie Chicks’ ”Ready to Run.” It was like running through Disneyland; I was so happy and into it! I loved looking at all the runners around me, including Pink Tutu Man:
Don’t worry, I passed that suckah. A couple people seemed amused that I was wearing a skirt (I guess running skirts haven’t caught on here yet?), but I just thought, “Well, this skirt just passed you up!!”
At the 5K mark I kicked it up. This coincidentally was the hill up a bridge. The hubs somehow found me and got some good action shots:
Matt decided to test a theory of his and shouted out my name when he saw me at the 6K mark. As predicted, I did not pass on a photo op:
HOT STUFF!
I was trying not to look at the mile markers. I have found I run best when I have as little information as possible or I start playing mind games. (This is the reason why I haven’t purchased an HRM or anything yet.) It was when I saw the 7K marker that I started to freak out a little bit. I was suddenly very aware that I was now getting into a distance I had never run before (I only trained up to 4.25 miles!).
At 8K I thought, “Okay, this is definitely difficult. I would like to stop now.” After a long conversation with myself I decided I could afford to stop and walk for a minute or two. I couldn’t believe it when I slowed down: my legs were like LEAD. I soon realized walking was NOT going to help me out.
I couldn’t escape the 9K marker, either, so I ran through that and soon got to the point where I had pre-decided I would sprint. I sprinted to the finish but I’m not sure if I actually sprinted through it! I’m worried that I stopped before my chip registered the finish!
I won’t ask you to try to find me in that photo because I am not in it! Matt didn’t make it to the finish line in time to see me go though! He underestimated me Because he wasn’t there to clock the time, we have been waiting for my chip time all night and it has only just come in!
I completed my first 10K at 59:51. Though I was hoping for something in the lower 50’s, I am trying to be proud of this time for a couple reasons. The first one being that I did it at all 
The other being that my time was under an hour (if only just!), which means my average pace was 09:37/mile. Back in February, I set my goal time as 70 minutes because I figured I might run 10-minute miles, but it was doubtful at the time that I could sustain that pace for 6.2 of them.
Part of me wants to kick myself because I think “you definitely could have pushed harder and you didn’t.” And that is true. I could have pushed a lot harder. But the beauty of it is, now I really want to do this again and kick my own ass. I enjoyed myself and still set a fairly respectable time.
Post-race snack:
After I got cleaned up and ready we went out to lunch and caught a matinee. We went to Giraffe and I had no idea what I wanted. The original plan was dim sum but there wasn’t time for that before the movie. I ended up with a grilled chicken, prawn, and mango salad (with cucumber, pecans, and some oil & vinegar). I also stole half of a slice of Matt’s toast. Before the movie, I grabbed a tall “skinny” hazelnut latte.
For dinner we grilled some organic sirloin burgers. I didn’t think I was in the mood for a burger but this was so fantastic. I had mine on a WW English muffin with sweet potato fries and a strawberry, avocado, carrot & romaine salad.
Dessert was cottage cheese and Jello chocolate pudding! I know it looks a little gross but it is so delicious!
Thank you ALL for all of your words of support! Your comments and emails in the past few days have been SO uplifting! I thought of many of you during the race and all your words of encouragement. This is a little late, but Happy Mother’s Day to all you mommies…including mine!
No related posts.
CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU!!!!
Such a great post a well…felt as though I were there by the pictures and FELT AS THOUGH I WERE THERE by your words (loved the kid on the first day of school sentiment).
hope youre still walking on air this morning,
Miz.
CONGRATS
:)!! hun you did so awesome!! i loved hearing your account of the race! and your time was great, something to be proud of!
lovin the headband by the way
see, you can do anything you put your mind to
have a nice monday!
HUGE congratulations- you did GREAT!
You did so good Lara! I love the action shots, you look so strong!! The best part is that you accomplished something you have been working so hard for and weren’t sure you would be able to do. You are one tough girl and YOU DID IT!!!! Woohoo!!!
I am sure this is the first of many future races to come!!
P.S. I think the headband and running skirt are super cute
CONGRATS!!!! I love all the goofy people that you see at races… tutu man very well could’ve been a friend of mine.
I’m so proud of you!!!
YOU DID AWESOME!!! I’m so excited for you! Time to put a 10-miler on your schedule
You were (and are) Amazing!!! I love the recap – I really feel like I was there watching you accomplish this major victory. I think you approached the race with the perfect attitude – enjoying the race and taking it easy on yourself. Now, you can focus on pushing yourself in future races and you know you can run 10k! I hope you are still floating on air from your success. Glad you enjoyed and relaxed the rest of the day
Wow! Congrats!!
Actually, I haven’t seen it yet. There’s a field for strawberry picking near my house. We went there the other day and found out that they also keep bees there and filmed part of the movie there. The keepers also trained the cast on bee keeping. They had pictures and letters from the cast and crew on a little bulletin board. It was really cute.
What threw you off about the movie? I’ve heard mixed reviews.
Yay, Lara, congratulations!!!!! What a great race recap. I totally knew you could do it. A-mazing! Your time is more than respectable especially given that you’ve never run this long of a distance before and that you had knee issues and even considered not doing it. The best part is that you enjoyed yourself and are motivated to do it again. I’m so happy for you.
You look absolutely stunning in all the pics btw!!
omg laraaaaaaaaaa!!! im so so so happy for yoU! i absolutely KNEW you could do it, and you finished so great and with an amazing time. you even got some glamour shots out there! i’m overjoyed for you!!! you suld be so extremely proud of yourself and EVERYTHING you’ve accomplished!!!!
YAY! congrats lara! i don’t know much about running, but that sounds like an awesome time! i feel like we were there with you on your “journey” to finish this race, so reading this recap makes me so happy for you!
Your time is great! I’d be thrilled with it. You should be so proud at what you accomplished! It sounded like a great first race.
hey, don’t even joke – you actually DID look hot!! while completing such an amazing goal!! you are such a star. i think your time is incredible, too. and i really admire your attitude out there, wanting to enjoy it so it doesn’t burn out your enthusiasm – so very smart. you should be so proud of yourself lara!
p.s. the cheeky monkey mix looks delish – gutted i didn’t get that in either of my 2 boxes!
p.p.s. do you curl your hair every day? what curler do you use?
p.p.p.s. your mum is beautiful!
Congrats on your awesome time! That’s SO great for your first 10k! I’d be so happy with a time like that!
OMG congrats Lara!!! Those pics are amazing, haha they almost look posed, bravo on the photography matt!!
CONGRATS Lara! Thatis an awesome time, loved reading your recap.
Congrats! That is a great time! You still look gorgeous after 6 miles!!!
youre so freaking gorgeous!
even while running a 10k race.
how do you do it? i must know.
Congratulations!!! I could never do that right now!
Lara! Congratulations!!! Thats seriously so awesome!!! I’m really proud of you and totally inspired:) I truly am!
Wow, that is so awesome! Congratulations! I actually just downloaded the “Couch to 5K” program – you’re definitely an inspiration!
Great job!
Well done Lara! You did it. All the training paid off and you completed the race! Your meal of burger and sweet potato fries must have tasted so sweet. Congratulations!
Congratulations on your race Lara!!! That is so awesome…now it makes me want to go sign up for a race. That picture of the pink tutu is so funny!
Fantastic Lara! You must be so proud, and I hope you do want to run another race.
“Ready to Run” is the first song on my race playlist…I thought that was pretty funny that it was yours too!
CONGRATS!!! You’re such a rockstar and inspiration! I may not know you in real life, but I’m really proud and excited for you!
Congratulations! You DID IT!! That’s so darn exciting. I love the pics. You’re a prostar! This definitely makes me want to try doing a race one of these days SOON. You’re inspirational girl!
Great job on your race! You should be proud of yourself!! Your eats look yummy!!
~Justine
Again, congrats Lara! You should be very proud!!! PS – That salad with the avocado looks sooooo good!
congrats lara! you are such an inspiration to me! I’m so glad you made it! just think of all the future races to come =)
That is so awesome! Great time!!
You should be so proud of yourself!
When I was doing races, I always did a run/walk method. I would run 6 minutes, walk 2 minutes. I did that from 10k’s all the way up to doing 2 marathons.
It looks like you had great weather too!
7,000 runners?! WOW!! The stretching nazi, haha!
You look beautiful in both your running pictures and the last picture! Had I just run a 10k my pictures wouldn’t have looked that great
CONGRATS!!
CONGRATS!!! so fantastic
CONGRATS! I loved this post!! I am so pleased for you Lara! The last photo when you finished the race is my favourite! You are awesome!!!
CONGRATS!!!!!! how do you look so cute while running!?! cardio turns me into a sweaty mess… i love the personal paparazzi capturing each and every moment -haha
that’s so awesome! congratulations! great pics too!
YAY! I knew you could and would do it!!!
CONGRATS Lara!!!!!
Wow that tutu is very interesting! I need to borrow it for my next party!
Thank you so much for visiting my blog too. The race sounds like it was amazing, congratulations.
hey girlie!!!! i am just reading your race recap!!!!! congrats!!!!!!!!!! i hope you are so freakin proud right now, you ROCK!!!
First, congrats on finishing the race running!!! (or should I say sprinting) You look super cute in the headband and skirt to boot
I finished my race feeling like I could have pushed harder too, but now we get to go back and beat our times!!
I think finishing 10k in under an hour is an amazing achievement!!!
Lara you look absolutely amazing in all those photos, and you did a fantastic job. I know you keep saying it’s not a good time and you could have pushed yourself further, but I think that’s a time and accomplishment you should be damn proud of. I really hope you’re giving yourself the credit you deserve.
GREAT JOB!! I’m so proud of you
Congrats on accomplishing your first 10K!!
AAAAAAHHH!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!
I didn’t think that you were going to run it after the doctors’ suggestions!! YOU ROCKED IT! Wow!!
And I do really LOVE your headband! I think I will sport one today in honor of you and your accomplishments!
Congrtulations! You did an awesome job and I actually do like your headband. I wear a hat to keep the sweat out of my eyes, but your headband is more fshionable.
Anyway, CONGRATS. You are awesome!!!!
CONGRATULATIONS!! What an inspiration you are – I’ll be running my first proper race in September (10 miles) and it’s so awesome to read a report by a “first timer”. Well done girl!
Congratulations on the race, its a fantastic acheivement. I can’t imagine running that far let alone in less than an hour so well done! Enjoy the achievement.
Your burger meal looks delicious. I am putting sweet potato onto next weeks shopping list to make fries with!
Congrat Lara! You rocked that 10K. I’m curious…were the mile markers in miles or kilometers?
I’m fascinated by your American in England story and was just wondering if you noticed any noteable differences in attitudes towards foods.
Maybe in your next race you can join in the dressing up and take part in the guise of your favorite Disney Princess?
You did GREAT and I am so proud of you, but you already know that!