Run to Stay Warm - 10K

In 2010 I did the 5K, 2012 was the half, so in 2018 I went for the 10K! Just like the Monster Mash 5K last month, this was on my calendar solely because the half marathon training plan I'm totally not following anymore said to do a 10K on this date. When I registered I had planned on having Katura do the kid races before my race ... I hadn't planned on the freezing cold weather. Take that weather and add it to the fact that for the last few days we had been in warm sunny California ... yeah, no way was I making my adorable little girl get up to come freeze and do a kid race with me! In the end this was a solo trip for me!

It wasn't until right before I went to bed the night before the race that I had mostly decided what I would wear. Before my Disneyland vacation Oregon had been warm. It was 31 degrees when I started the race, so yeah, I just didn't know how to prepare for this one! Fortunately it was a dry forecast, just very cold. I never even thought of bringing gloves with me, so that's how out of cold weather practice I am! Around 6:15am I left my house, leaving everyone else home and warm in their beds. In no time at all I was in Eugene with a great parking spot at EWEB, heading to get my bib and shirt. 

OH MY GOSH. IT WAS SO COLD!!! Even with a sweatshirt on over my clothes I was shivering. Would I even survive this race?? I got my things and went straight back to my car. Aside from a potty visit before the lines appeared, I stayed in my car up until about 7 minutes before the race started. This was good and bad. 

Good: I stayed warm and got to listen to some fun podcasts and not think about race nerve.

Bad: I didn't prepare my body to run AT ALL.

The race start was very narrow, so I tried to slide my way into an opening out of the shade. I half ass tried to stretch out my legs as much as I could in the confined area, and a minute early we were off and racing! It was pointless to try to run at the beginning. It was so congested that I could walk fast and keep up with the pack. After a couple tenths of a mile it was finally open enough to run, although still very congested for probably the first half mile.

Once I was able to run the pain started. My legs were frozen! I was so darn cold and my muscles just froze. I was running with a limp, each step hurting more than the last. I think around the mile and a half mark I finally had to pull over at a pole and use it to help really stretch my calves. That hurts like a son of a gun, but afterward it feels so much better. I had to do this twice during the first two miles - from there I was golden!

The race got extra nice when the 5K runners took their big turn to head toward the finish. The course became very quiet and empty, with just us 10K runners and a few fast half marathon runners coming through. Around our half way point, eh, maybe father along, the 10K course crossed the river so we could start our trek to the finish line. This part of the course was so pretty! I really got in the zone. Just as I would feel good about myself, slowly picking off people one at a time, I'd get passed and set back in reality. But who was passing me?? The half marathon course winner, followed by the next 3 fastest guys. Dang, they are so impressive! I mean they seem like they are just floating along barely touching the ground!

I had a couple final people I was sure to pass before I crossed the finish, so I just stared straight ahead, focused on my breathing, and let my legs do their thing. Fortunately I can usually pull out a strong finish in races since I almost always practicing pushing hard at the end of my training runs. It works for me anyway. The finish line was in my sights and I just went for it. I felt awesome! And I was very happy and surprised when I saw my finish. I mean I ran with a limp for two miles and had to stop twice to fix my legs, and I was still shocked at my time?!? Not bad!

After the race I didn't really linger at all. I grabbed a bite of a grilled cheese sandwich, took a bagel and cream cheese for the road and went straight to my car. I never did warm up on that entire hour+ drive home. But that shower once I did make it home? Ahhhh-mazing!

So that's that. Nothing fancy to report. Next up, half marathon number 32!