9/22/12: Girls on the Go 10K

I am thankful to have participated in my second 10K today! My right shin is still not 100% but I rested it all week and it does feel a lot better. I was hesitant to run this race since it was inside of Frank G. Bonelli Park in San Dimas which is very hilly for me. I have ran here before on a good day and it works me out! I made the decision to run this 10K at 6am this morning when I woke up because I was not feeling any pain.

My friend Shawna was also registered for the race and is just coming back from a foot injury so we were both on the fence about running it. Shawna suggested that we run it together and see what happens. Shawna's sister, her mom and a friend ran the 5K which started 15 minutes after the 10K. 

Bib pick up was only offered the day of the event which was nice. I live about 20 minutes from the event but it was nice not having to make the trip twice.

The parking was $10 which was not a plus but worked out since I was able to park close to  the finish. This was very convenient for me to get back to my car and ice my shin after I finished. I am learning that not every race has to be a PR or anything spectacular. It is always a great feeling when you have a great race but today it felt good just to run. This was an inaugural race and was not a very big event. It was aimed towards women so there was lots and lots of pink runners out on the course!!! Shawna and I joined in on the fun and wore our pink too!!

The 10K started at 8am and the course had lots of small hills so it was not easy. It did not help that I haven't ran in over a week. The uphill climb came right in the beginning of the course so it was challenging for us from the start. The last half was more downhill so it kind of made up for the first half.

Around mile 2.5 there was a small stream that you have to cross over to get to a dirt path so I took my time stepping on rocks to avoid stepping into the water.  This seemed a little dangerous to me but most of the runners were just running through it since the water level was very low. I did not want to run in wet shoes so I took my time!

At Mile 4 we took a short walking break and then finished it off. My official time was 56:39 (9:06 pace) and I was happy with that. I finished 24th out of 211 10K participants and 5th in my age group. 

Definitely not a PR but I did not monitor my pace at all today. I did wear my Garmin but time was not my focus today. My focus was to finish and not earn a DNF due to shin pain.

The event was very small and pretty well organized for being an inaugural race. The medals were not handed out at the finish and you had to go to another location to pick them up which I though was kind of strange. The medal is cute and very "Girlicous" as they call it!

Love my Chill Towel after a race!

Do you want to stay cool during and after a race/workout? Then enter my Giveaway! You can find it here!

Three Things Thursday

1. I finally bought a helmet and the puppies checked it out for me and made sure that everything was okay. Now I just have to put in on, get on my bike and go for a ride!

2. We are registered for the Color Me Rad 5K and will be doing it as a family. It will be the first 5K for all of them. I am excited and I am sure we will having fun more than anything so I am really looking forward to it.

 3. I will be running a 10K on September 22nd since I signed up for one yesterday. I got a Schwaggle from Active.com and the deal was for 50% off so I jumped on it. I am glad that I waited to register since it would cost me $50.00 + fees instead of $25.00 and then I would have been kicking myself for not getting the deal. I am due for a 10K since I have only ran one to date.

Is your race schedule getting pretty full? 

I know mine is and I am not done yet.  I still want to sign up for a Turkey Trot and possibly another run in December for the holiday.

Three Things Thursday

1. I am still on the hunt for the perfect running shoe.  I recently tried the Mizuno Wave Rider 15's and I love them.  Most of the girls on my Ragnar Team wear Nike Lunar Eclipse and have ranting and raving about them so I decided to give them a try.  They retail for about $130.00 but were on sale for $89.90 at the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale.  If you have a Nordstrom credit card, you get early access to the sale items before the sale opens to the public on July 20th.  I didn't have a Nordstrom Visa but I applied for one so now I do! I didn't really want to do that but I wanted to get the shoes now versus later. They are really comfortable and I took them for a trial run on Monday and really liked the way they fit and they are super cushiony.

2. I have been considering a race that my friend Caroline who blogs over at Canadian Runner in Exile told me about.  Caroline has ran all of the local races and she gives me the best advise on which ones are good and the ones that are not so good. I am considering signing up for the Girls on the Go 10K since it is a local race and the course is in a familiar place where I love to do lots of my long runs when I am training for a marathon. I like that the race is "planned with the woman in mind" and everything about it is just really girly.

 

 3. Can you believe that I bought a road bike about a month ago and I still haven't taken it out for a ride? My biggest problem is that I need a helmet so I think I will buy one this weekend and actually ride the darn bike! I think I am kind of nervous about riding it too. I live in a gated community so it might not be a bad idea for me to familiarize myself with the bike before I take it out on the road!

  

So are you thinking about signing up for any races? I heard that the Big Sur Marathon sold out in 26.2 hours!  How cool is that?