Running Mama Cooks

Yesterday morning I ran the Pan Classic 10k in Madison, NJ. It was a brutally hot morning and the start time was 11:00. Needless to say this race was not pretty, not at all. Actually, I think it was probably the worse race I have ever run. That being said, I am trying to focus on the fact that I finished and not that I added 5 minutes onto my last 10k time.

The race itself was pretty disorganized and I knew when we were waiting for the start that it wasn't going to be a good one. The late start time and hot temps are not a good combination for me. Plus, between my teaching schedule and the kids I have not had many opportunities to run outside in the heat.

I made a crucial mistake in the beginning and went out way too fast. I felt pretty good at first and ran a 10 minute mile. At the end of mile 1 there was a killer hill. I powered up it. I probably would have been better off taking it easy because I hit the wall soon after that. There was barely any shade and it was at least 85 at this point. At a mile and a half, the runners doing the 5k turned off, and many of the 10k runners decided to turn off as well. I let my ego get in the way and kept going on the 10k route.

At this point I knew there would be walking involved so I started running 4 minutes, walking 1 minute, so on and so forth. That lasted for about a mile until I was walking longer than 1 minute at a time. For the last 2 miles I was just surviving since every time I ran I felt like I was going to throw it. It was frustrating since my legs wanted to go but my stomach wasn't cooperating.

I finished around 1:16. I was disappointed because I thought I might have a shot at a PR since I have been running pretty fast (for me) lately. I am trying to focus on the fact that I didn't give up and finished the race, and not let this experience shake my confidence.

Trudging towards the finish

Finally there!!