Biggest Loser 10K

Well, I have a new medal now and it was a lot easier to earn, haha. 

This past weekend Mac and I traveled down to Austin to take part in the Biggest Loser 10K. I really wanted to get a decent time(for me) so that maybe it could help me with my starting corral. Because of the way Mac ended up getting registered for the race, I wasn't able to check his anticipated finish time and he ended up with a faster submitted time than me. I was worried that it would mean we would end up in different corrals. I know that he could move back to mine but I REALLY wanted to be able to move up to his to give me a little more time and peace of mind on race day. Even though I have done this before and even though I am in better shape than last year, I have still been really worried lately. I know that people have had success in the past getting moved up by having a proof of time even if it wasn't a great one so I was just hoping for anything.

As the 10K got closer, I wasn't sure that I was going to have as fast of a time as I had hoped because my knee has been bothering me more lately. I think a lot of that is due to the weird weather fluctuations but no matter the cause, it affects my running. There was a little concern over packet pick-up and if we were going to have to drive down both Friday and Saturday but once we received the final email, I was relieved to see that there was race day pick-up.

Saturday morning we got up early to drive the hour down there for the race. We had to get there a little early to get our packets. It was cold and wet so I wore my PJs over my race clothes to stay warm. It's a good thing we left earlier than we needed to because 10 minutes after we left, I realized I had forgotten my shoes for the race. After a quick trip back by the house we were finally on the way. We arrived in plenty of time to get our bibs and shirts and check a bag(with my pjs in it) before we needed to line up. I was surprised at how small of a crowd there was since Austin is a HUGE running community. There were only 254 participants so it was a very small crowd. I was impressed right before the start because they actually had a guy from a local cross fit community get on the mic and lead us in a quick warm-up before the start.

I decided to have fun with my race outfit since I ALWAYS race in a Sparkle Tech and I decided to wear my purple one this time. I wore my pink Running Princess tech tee, my hot pink Zensahs, and my new turquoise NB Minimus so I was VERY colorful. I received tons of compliments on my skirt and most were surprised to find out it was an actual running skirt. About a quarter of a mile after the race started the course split and the 5K route went to the right and the 10K went left into the woods. Just before the split, a lady passed us and said "I was really hoping for the pajamas for the race."

It was a very friendly and encouraging crowd. The course was also nice too because they had banners with encouraging quotes all along the course. I even saw one that said, "Forget the glass slipper, this princess wears running shoes" and it made me smile knowing we will be at the Princess in just a few weeks. Unfortunately, our first loop was on a mulch trail. I HATE mulch trails. You have to compensate for shifting steps and it kills my calves. Plus I spend the whole time worrying that I am going to twist an ankle. We were making pretty good time but the cooler weather and the uneven surface caused my muscles to ache a little and take longer to warm up so we ended up walking a little extra. I knew after our first loop we would be back on the road and then a better trail so I hoped I would be able to make up some time. Even with the extra walking, we still had a decent pace(for me).

Finally we hit the asphalt again and I started feeling better. My muscles finally warmed up and I was on solid ground. Soon we were on the the second loop and a different trail. I had my phone tracking us and playing music. I had it set to tell me each mile we did. When the lady said we had done 3 miles, I realized we had not seen a flag on the course for it. We kept going and not too long later, passed the 4 mile mark. I checked my phone and it said 3.5. I wasn't sure if my phone was wrong or the course but we kept running. I was starting to feel a little tired and I had a terrible cramp in my shoulder. I ended up walking a few extra times but kept pushing as much as I could. I wasn't keeping the goal pace I had for myself but I was only 30 seconds slower so I wanted to keep it up if I could. Mac was great because he was actually tracking the intervals for us with the Gym Boss timer. We had it on vibrate so we wouldn't disturb people around us and him announcing to me each time the interval changed meant it gave people around us a heads up. I would ask if a run interval was up and he would tell me how many more seconds and try to push me on.

Finally we were on the 3rd and final loop and I was starting to suspect that I was right. Before the race, I plotted the course on Run Keeper so that I could see the elevation changes. I wanted to see if there were any crazy hills  because I knew that would slow me down. When I plotted the course, it wasn't 6.2 miles. I kept thinking that maybe I wasn't exactly right since some of the trails were hard to see on the map but as we were running that day, I kept thinking my suspicions could be right. As we ran the last loop I heard the RunKeeper lady say we had done 5 miles. I looked around and thought that we were really close to the stadium where the finish line was. Sure enough, not long after, we passed the 6 mile marker. I literally started crying tears of joy. I knew that they course was wrong and that I was going to end up with an AWESOME time to submit at the Princess for better placement. We rounded the last bend and headed for the stadium. Even though it was a run interval I walked because I told Mac I would run once we hit the track and only had  a tenth of a mile left. As we hit the track I started running with a longer and faster stride than usual. I wanted to finish strong and we did.We got our medals and I grabbed my phone to turn off the tracking. We did about 5.5 miles, not 6.2, but even for the distance we did cover, I had my best average pace yet. It gave me the encouragement I needed as we head into these last few weeks before the half.

We grabbed some yummy food from a local sponsor and headed over to the results board and waited for them to post the list with us on it. After a few minutes it was up. I checked it out and sure enough, it was calculated for the distance it SHOULD have been not what we actually covered and it was a great finish time for me. It was still slow for most people's standards but it was great for me and means that I will have a little more cushion at the Princess. I also noticed that my husband placed 3rd in his age group. It was funny because that goes to show how few guys his age were out there. Three quarters of the participants were women. We browsed around at a few of the vendors and then headed out. I was SO COLD after the race so it was nice getting in the car with a little heat. The temp outside wasn't too bad by the end of the race but it was definitely a time when I wished I had a mylar blanket.

All in all it was a great day. There are several people that are bitching about the messed up distance on the FB event but for me it was a welcome blessing. Most of the people there are new to running and this was their first event so 5.5 miles is better than nothing. It sucks that some people can't count the time for PRs but everybody makes mistakes. I'm just glad that we had a good run and a good pace and now I have a good time to submit for the half. I can't believe it is so close and that I am about to do this all over again.