Yesterday morning I got up early and into my Team RWB Shirt and patriotic running skirt, got Thomas up and dressed and brought him to my friend C’s (Ryan & Robert were at Scout camp this weekend). Then I headed to the gym on post for the Fort Rucker Ten Mile Run Off and Team Relay. I had a lot of fun chatting with my fellow runner friends before the race for a little bit, and then we were off on a hilly 10 miles! There’s a mile-long downhill around mile 3, but since it’s an out and back course, that means there’s a mile-long climb (about 115 feet elevation change) at mile 7. It was a beautiful morning for a race – and decent temps instead of the usual insane heat we have this time of year. My original goal was a 10:30 pace, but when I hit 5 miles in less than 50 minutes, I figured I’d shoot for a sub-10 pace. I killed the uphill climb and finished out the last 3 miles. With a 1/4 mile to go, I started my final kick to get in under 1:40. My watch beeped at 10 miles and the finish line was still off in the distance. Ugh! Race was a 1/10 of a mile long. Ok, so you non-runners are like Big deal. But when you’ve already run 10 miles, especially with that big hill and you start your kick when you need to, you’re done at the distance and the extra seems like forever. I did finish with a 9:56 pace and my time was 1:40:05 – so for all practical purposes, I ran a sub-1:40 10 mile. LOL!! It was still about 2 minutes slower than last year on this course, but last year I had been training for a marathon (which was the week prior) so I was in a little better running shape. Here’s a pic of me heading to the big downhill at mile 3:
After the race was over, I hung around and chatted with my friends and stayed for the awards. They don’t do age groups for this race – just the top 12 males and females. I was like 18th or so, but I’m ok with that. I was pretty much just using it as a long run. Once everything I was over, I headed home to eat and shower and relax for a little bit before getting dressed and headed back out.
I had been invited to a bridal shower for my friend S and it was a Kentucky Derby-themed one, and the invitation said the attire was sundresses and fancy hats. I had to borrow a hat from my friend K at church. It was a lot of fun getting dressed up and hanging out with other ladies (some of whom had also run the 10 miles in the morning) and showering S with jewelry (that was her request in lieu of gifts). She’s going to be making a jewelry bouquet for her wedding and she wanted to have little pieces of all her friends! We played some fun games and ate some delicious food. The hostess had punch and mojitos in small mason jars, so they were all pre-portioned. Really neat idea! They also had mint juleps, but I didn’t have any of those. I did have a jar of punch and 2 mojitos. Here’s a picture of me in my finery!
After the bridal shower was done, I headed back to C’s house to pick Thomas up. He had had a lot of fun with little E, C’s daughter who is 6 months older than Thomas is. They played and ate and took a nap and when I got there, they were out back in E’s little pool. After I got changed, we headed to the Children’s Festival in a local park and got to go on some bouncies and sit in a firetruck and play on the playground for a while. It was a fun way to end the day.
armytbonegirl 