The Result(s)!!

Whew...ok. RACE TIME. More like recap time. So here we go.

In case you are unaware, I ran in the Monument Ave 10k this past weekend in Richmond. The weather was nice and clear for the race but it was COLD...When we started the race it was about 35 out. Not so fun.
So - My goal was to complete it in under 1 hour. I semi-sort-of met that goal.

Officially my brother and I crossed the finish line in about 1:06 which isn't too bad. However, I had to take a massive break right around mile 3 thanks to an insane shooting pain in my knee. It is most definitely IT band related. I've had issues in my left knee before so I know exactly what the pain feels like (it was on the right side this time). And it isn't pretty. I imagine that childbirth feels something like how my knee felt. It was intense.
Anyways so this random pain came right out of the blue and I really had no choice but to stop several times to try and "work it out." Thank God Tristan is a real runner because I could not have conquered the pain without him. We stopped about 3 times during mile 3 so I could try and get through the pain by stretching out my knee and hip for a bit. Tris had me do some dynamic stretches for a few minutes and I ended up adjusting my gait and felt SO MUCH better. It is really a miracle that I was able to keep running!! The worst part of it all was that I was IN THE ZONE when the pain hit and when we stopped I was barely even breathing...I felt good and we were right on track to finish in under an hour. STUPID IT BAND!
I am guessing the pain came on so suddenly because we were running on the street, which is slightly sloped on the sides. Running 3 miles on the slope was not such a wise plan.

But now for the good news. Tristan made sure to stop his watch every time we stopped to work through my knee. As soon as we started running again, he started the watch up again. And...drum roll...in pure RUNNING time we completed the race in 59:57!!! I am definitely proud of that. Even if we didn't "officially" come in anywhere near an hour, I was able to actually run 6.2 miles in under 1 hour! Also, our 1st mile pace was somewhere in the 12 minute range thanks to the fact that the road was crammed with people. After the mile 3 incident we made up so much time and even ran a few miles at an under 9 minute pace.  I highly recommend running with someone who knows what they are doing...Tristan paced me so well that I didn't even feel like I was going that fast!

In other news, because I pushed so hard the last few miles, by the time we got to the finish line I really wasn't in the best shape. We literally sprinted (at least in my mind) the last half mile-ish so that I would make it in under 1 hour on Tristan's watch. After already running 5.5-ish fast miles I was so extremely exhausted that the last half mile did me in. After we crossed the finish line I started to heave and felt ridiculously sick. I almost puked 6 times and couldn't even open my eyes. Tristan had to help me stand up because the world was spinning. It was really embarrassing because there were SO many people around watching. Thankfully there was other puke on the ground and lots of other runners crossing the finish line. Oooops.

But at least I know I pushed myself to the absolute max and I am really proud of that! It was also really nice to have that runner's high for a solid 2 days afterwards.

Next up, the Carytown 10k (I think?!). I'm kind of scared to run it by myself and it is the morning after the Strawberry Hill Races (dun dun dun!).

Pictures of the race to come as soon as I can snatch them from the pro photographer's website! I really can't wait to see my horrible-almost-puking face at the end of the race.

Toodle Loo!