San Diego Resolution Run 10K Recap!

This past weekend I cruised down to San Diego for my first 10K, the San Diego Resolution Run.

My boyfriend and I drove down the night before, and on the drive down I realized I had forgotten my iPod!  Major fail.  Sean was being so encouraging, telling me he never runs with music and that gives him time to think and enjoy his surroundings and look forward to what he will be doing once his run is over.  So I said I would try it the next morning for the race.  Be one with nature.

My alarm went off at 5am, I got up and dressed (I wore my Surf City Shirt, Nike Running Skirt, and my Zensah arm warmers), had a cup of Starbucks VIA Ready Brew I brought with me, and ate an Odwalla bar.  I didn’t expect Sean to come with me to the race because he is in law enforcement and works nights so he usually sleeps during the day.  I was happily surprised when he said he was planning all along on coming to watch me run my first 10K and cheer me on!  We got to Mission Bay park around 6:15 so I could pick up my bib.  It was so cold and dark, and I was happy I wore my Zensah arm warmers.  I went back to the car and put my bib on and sit in the heated car for a bit.

The 10K started at 7:30, and I started warming up beforehand.  I felt pretty ready, minus not having my music with me (I had just put together a playlist for the race too!), but my stomach was jittery.  One of the bootcamps was there warming the runners up, so here is me in the 10K warmup doing a little jogging in place:

I lined up at the starting line and at 7:30 the gun went off.

I started out at what I thought was my comfortable pace.  I passed Sean and he was cheering me on and taking pictures.  He was so supportive!  So during the first mile I was pretty much keeping pace with everyone around me.  BAD MOVE MAGGIE!  My Garmin beeped at mile 1 and I felt out of gas.  I looked down and I had just ran a 7:35 mile!  I NEVER run a 7:35 mile, ever!  So I slowed down and walked hastily for a few minutes until I felt ready to go again.  I kept telling myself to keep an easy 10-11 min/mile pace which is my comfortable pace.

At this point I started to feel great again.  The sun had begun to rise and was shining over the bay, and I took Sean’s advice and focused on all this beauty around me.  It was gorgeous!

I focused on my breathing and keeping my shoulders back.  Everything was going pretty darn well until just before mile 4.  All of a sudden my shin felt like it was on fire and I almost lost my footing.  I stretched it out and the burn was gone.  My knees were aching, but I kept my comfy pace and it was fine.  I was really missing my iPod though.  I know there are lots of runners who can run ultras without an iPod…I am not one of those people.  I love music.  Music keeps me paced, motivated, and focused.  Plus I love to sing along even though I’m no Frank Sinatra.  Around mile marker 5 I started running with and talking to two women, one of whom was running with her black Labrador.  We ran for a while together chatting about the 10Ks they had run before, me running Surf City ∏ in four weeks, our achy knees, and some random things.  They were very cool and talking with them made mile 5 fly by.  Finally I passed the mile 6 marker and picked up my pace. I saw Sean near the finish line and he was cheering me on and I was so happy he came to see me run.

I felt inspired, and the finish line was so close that I booked it and crossed the finish line hitting my goal time on the nose.  My goal time was 1:10-1:15.  I finished at the faster end of my spectrum with 1:10:47.

I’m very happy I finished in one hour and ten minutes.  I know I could have beat 70 minutes if I had paced myself better from the get go, but I expected to finish in that time and I did!  Maggie’s first 10K:  DONE!  After crossing the finish I had to wait in line to give the tear-off part of my bib so they could log my time (it wasn’t chip-timed) and Sean came to bring me water and took this picture:

Sean deserves the *BEST BOYFRIEND* award for everything he does.  He was so proud of me and I couldn’t have been happier to see him at the finish line :)

After drinking water and eating a little snack, I asked someone to take a picture of us.

 

After taking the picture I said “I think my toenail just fell off” and this guy turned around laughing and said, “That is the quote of the day!  I am going to use that one as part of today’s description!”  And we all laughed.  When Sean and I got to the car, I checked out my toe and sure enough there was a gnarly blister under it lifting the toenail a lot (I took a picture, but I'm not sure if anyone really wants to see that haha!).  I will probably be losing that toenail sometime this week or next.  BADGE OF HONOR!

Overall it was a fun course in a beautiful part of Southern California.  There was a lot of pavement on the course (not my fav), but there was also a lot of asphalt and a bit of dirt trail both of which were more cushion-y than the concrete.  The Resolution Run was a great run and I would totally do it again.  But I would keep the following things in mind for next time:
1.      Always double check that I have my iPod before the race.
2.      Pace myself better.
3.      Bring sunglasses just in case (we were running into the sun for 2 miles…blinding!)

I’m so happy today is a rest day because I am experiencing pain in my right heel.  Hopefully resting today will help.

Surf City is less than 4 weeks away!!!

xoxo