Ten for Texas Recap

I wish I had a fancier recap for y’all, but I failed to take any pictures while I was at the race site. I guess that’s the downside to attending a race alone!

I did the 10 for TX last year and I loved every second of that race. Not only was I super speedy, but the weather was perfect, the venue was perfect, the medals were fun, the race was a great size, and did I mention the weather was perfect?

Even the reviews on their website says it all:

This year it was still a great race, but not as perfect as I had pictured in my head from last year. The humidity was awful and the race seemed a lot more crowded this go-round.

Let’s back up to Friday. After I got home from work I decided Hubby and I were going to go pick up my race packet from Luke’s Locker and have dinner at my lucky restaurant. Last year before the 10 for TX we ate at Macaroni Grill and I had a stellar run the next day and the day before my marathon we had Macaroni Grill for lunch and I had a stellar first marathon. Clearly Macaroni Grill is in the formula for a stellar race. I swear it’s all in the bread.

The server somehow knew I badly needed to hydrate and proceeded to bring me massive amounts of water, which I consumed all of.

I ended up getting to bed pretty early around 10:00 after setting out all my gear, and then I could not get myself to sleep all night. I guess I was having pre-race jitters.

I woke up, had the usual coffee and peanut butter banana toast, put on all my gear and headed to the race. To my disappointment when I stepped outside it was a cool 70-degrees, but a retched 98% humidity. I’ll be the first to admit I’m a baby when it come to humidity; I do all my running in the evenings and I am not used to that much humidity.

I got to the race pretty early with a little too much time to spare- I had time to wait in the lovely port-o-potty lines, stretch out, get some water, and then realize I might need to pee again #runnerproblems. I went and stood in line again, but after waiting for 5 minutes I started to hear them sing the National Anthem and I didn’t want to miss the so I just skipped the extra potty break.

By the time I got to the start line the crowds were so heavy, there seemed to be a lot more people at the race this year. They had the street barricaded off where the runners would start, but I couldn’t even get myself in the street, I had to wait on the outside of the barricades until the crowds thinned slightly. Once I passed the start line I had to do what I’m always told not to do… weave around people. I know, I know, you’re not supposed to expend all your extra energy at the beginning of a race trying to get around people, but I did not want to run the whole first mile at a 10:00 pace which was happening. So, needless to say, I weaved my way through till about mile 1.5 where the crowds started to thin out and I caught up to the people about my pace.

Last year when I did so well at this race, I went all out for miles 1-6 and then my pace started to slow at the end. Although, I have never  had much luck with negative splits I decided to attempt a negative split this time and hold back my pace a bit in the first 4-5 miles. I carried on at a steady 8:15-8:30 pace and told myself I’d speed it up at mile 5.

One thing I really do like about this race is that the crowd support is nice and there are constantly people cheering you on at every intersection. I also enjoy the water stations every two miles that provide powerade and water, and I like that the course is basically an out and back.

Once I got to the “back” part of the course around mile 5 I attempted to pick up my pace and I hit the 10k mark at slightly over 51 minutes (faster than my current PR). After that, speed just wasn’t happening anymore and my pace started to gradually slow at each mile. I think the Humidity was getting to me. I still managed to keep myself in the race mentally and ignore those “come on just walk-doesn’t that sound good?” thoughts that like to creep in when things get tough.

One thing that helped me get through to the end of the race and often helps me get through races and long runs is to tell myself, “Ok, only 3 miles left- how many times have you ran 3 miles?- that’s easy!” and somehow it works  

I think I clocked the last 2 miles at a closer to 9:00 pace, but they ticked by in a blur and I crossed the finish line in 1:26:14.

After I crossed the finish line a volunteer was there to hand me water and then I started to look around to collect my medal…only to discover there were none-bummer! Getting a medal is one of the biggest perks of running a race.

I headed to the food tent- which I think is pretty awesome at this venue. They had breakfast tacos, chick-fil-a sandwiches, bagels, all kind of fruits, and chocolate milk. Unfortunately for me, I struggle eating right after I run but I forced myself to have chocolate milk and half a banana.

I stood around the post-race party for a little while, but got a little bored being there alone; I need some runner friends to race with! Shortly after, I decided getting out of my dripping wet clothes sounded  phenomenal and headed home.

When I got home I found the results online and found out I had placed 7th out of 100 in my age group- pretty cool!

Well thanks for listening to my almost pictureless recap, now I leave you with these:

What things do you tell yourself when a race or run starts to get tough?

Do you prefer doing races with friends or do you fly solo?

Do you like to get medals when you do a race?