Neewollah 10K

Oh dear. I had such hope for this race. My training has been going to well and my last few races were great. Unfortunately, I did not have a great race. Oh well.

I got there at 7:50 or so to pick up my packet. Ryan and I got our numbers pinned on and found Rick and Adam. They had dropped us off and went to park the car. I then met up with someoldman and decided to run with him. He looked sad and lonely, so I took pity :p

Ryan and I before the run.. How cute am I?

We lined up. The 5K and 10K have differnt start lines, so I had to part ways with Ryan. They said go and I took off. Remember last week when I said my first mile of the race was too fast? I ran it in 10:00. Well, yesterday I ran a mile in 9:45! Way too fast. I could keep coming up with excuse about why the race went bad, but they don't matter. Ok, a little more whining. I had stomach cramps most of the race. And all day yesterday. And today. Woohoo!

Ok, back to the race.I don't really have a lot to say. Every mile got harder. I walked way too much. I don't think I enjoyed even one moment of this race. I hated it last year too, when it was only the 5K. I'm just going to move past this and start focusing on my next race, which is a trail race. It should be fun.

Ryan finishing the 5K:

He got third place in his age group! He's so fast. Today he is very very sore though. Why does that make me happy? Oh, I know! Because he thinks he can do stuff like that without preparing. Maybe he will have learned a lesson.

Me finishing the 10K:

After the big races, they have a 1 mile fun run. It is insane. Tons of kids, no organization. Adam wanted to do it this year, so I let him. Ryan decided to do it too, since his friend was. He was so tired though that his friend finished way before him and so did his little brother.

Adam finishing:

Yes, he's wearing jeans. Sigh. Things like wearing appropriate clothing escape Adam. He is definitely his own person!

I had a good day overall and I'm so glad my kids participated. Rick was again our pack mule and photographer. He does everything we ask when we run and I appreciate him so very much.

Some thoughts on the race in general:

The road markings were better this year than last and that was great. Also, they had people at the turns telling you where to go.

No aid stations. I can see not having anything for a 5K race, but they really should have something for a 10K. This is the only race I've done over 5K that doesn't have some kind of drinks along the course. This is something that bugs me. Perhaps I'm spoiled, but I need a drink when I run that far!

The fun run needs to be done differently. They have way too many kids start at once. Ever year some kids falls and gets stepped on for a while until he gets up. I don't know if that happened this year because I couldn't the start, but I know it has every other year. There are people from 2 years up to probably 80 years old that do this race. Perhaps starting in a couple of groups would be helpful.

Ok, don't whining. I had a great run/walk with Rick this morning. Some wonderful person gravelled the dike that goes around Elk City. I have found a wonderful new place to run! Rick and I did it this morning and it was great until we had to cut it short so I could rush home to the bathroom. Perhaps it is technically trespassing, but I doubt I will get in trouble. I guess we will find out! I plan to run there again Tuesday.

~Mel