I conquered my first 10k today, and I did it while wearing a tutu!
We ran the 2nd Dress Like the Devil and Run for the Angels 10k in Ferndale, MI. This was a fundraiser for an organization called Angel kisses. Angel kisses funds programs to help improve care for families who experience prenatal loss during their second or third trimester. I couldn't think of a better way to remember my niece Calleigh Mae and my friend's little girl Ava Yvonne. Ava's parents choose the color purple to represent their angel, which is why I wore a purple tutu. Calleigh's nursery was in owls so we always think of Calleigh when we see an owl, so we wore purple owl pins on our shirts as well (can't really see them in this pic). Before the race they handed out balloons for a ballon launch. The balloon launch was beautiful. I wish I would have thought to write a note and attach it to the balloon like the family next to us did.
This was only the 2nd annual race so it was pretty small (only 168 total runners) compared to other races I have run. Since there was a HUGE Making Strides against Breast Cancer walk in downtown Detroit today, this may not have been the best day to have another event in the area. Even though it was a small race, it was chipped, which gives you official times. This was the first time I had a chip that you tie on your shoe. I have always had chips attached to the back of my bib. I had the chip tied on my shoe while I was walking around getting warmed up and it started to rub on my leg. I was not going to be bothered with that for 6.2 miles, so I took it off and tucked it in my armband.
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| Ava's Daddy sporting his race shirt |
This event's cause is near to my heart so I don't want to be negative, I am, however, going to give my honest opinion of my race experience. The race shirts were awesome, they were Dry-fit shirts and they had a spot to write who you were running in honor of...
I have been fighting some sort of sinus thing for a few days, so I was having a hard time breathing in through my nose, and I forgot my tissue on the front seat of the car. That made it really hard to breath properly for a 6.2 mile run. The race route was through the city of Ferndale, which wasn't very scenic or exciting at all. There were several signs pointing us which way to go and volunteers at every turn as well. The 10k route was just doing the 5k loop twice. Most of the volunteers were supportive, and we got lots of comments on our tutus.
I have a real problem of going out really strong during a race and then hitting a wall toward the end. Since we were doing a 10k I kept trying to watch my pace so we did 30/30 intervals (30 seconds walking and 30 seconds running). During the first half it seemed as though there was always a big gap between the people in front of us and then another big gap of people behind us. I seriously felt SLOW. I would check my time on my Run Keeper app, according to it we were doing fine. My sister in law, Sindi was way ahead of us and I kept thinking I was running really slow. She rocked the 5k, with a time of 36:13, she beat her PR by almost 2 minutes. She drinks Super Pump, I need some!
As if I wasn't already feeling inadequate, when we started the loop for the second time, there wasn't anyone in front of us or behind us. Yikes! By time we passed some of the volunteers the second time, their enthusiasm had died down, and so had mine. We were running down a street and I told my mom, I think we are going the wrong way. There was a volunteer down a little ways who started to yell, go back, you missed your turn. Now I felt defeated, there goes our time. We will never finish in a good enough time to turn in to Run Disney. Luckily, my mom pulled out a map of the course. She said, "I don't know why I grab this, but I am so glad I did". At one point a police car pulled up next to us and ask us to run on the sidewalk for the remainder of the race. That was kind of annoying. Sidewalks means dodging cars not parked right and lots of ups and downs with the curbs. By this time we felt ridiculous running the streets of Ferndale in tutus! Coming up to another volunteer, she said "oh, I didn't know there were still more runners I have been taking the signs down". I was mad, I paid $40 just like everyone else, so now I have to run on the sidewalk while reading a map. Part of me just wanted to look at the map and find a short cut to get back. I was pleased to see the water stations were still all there for us. As we got to another turn, we saw a volunteer get in his car and pull away. I was really getting down on myself, thinking my app wasn't working right. I know I am not that slow, I have finished 5k in still had several people behind me. I am by no means fast, but I figured I was average. I was super aggravated, I couldn't breath, my knee was starting to hurt, and I was really just wanting to walk back to the car and forget the whole stupid thing. Good thing I was doing this in honor of my niece, because quitting wouldn't have honored her at all! They had taken down the 5 mile marker so I kept thinking we had a lot farther to go than we did. I thought for sure I would be crawling across the finish line. We got to a corner with a volunteer and she said you are almost there, just around the corner. I was so excited to round the corner to find...Nothing! What? They took the finish line down already, too? No, it was just around the next corner! As we rounded the corner I was able to see the race clock, it said 1:18:02. I said to my mom, "lets go, we might be able to use this time for Disney". I have no idea where the last gust of energy came from, but I was able to Run, not walk, not crawl, but run across the finish line. I finished in 1:18:27. Which actually could have been about 2 minutes better had we not missed a turn.
After the race, I went up to the coordinator and told her about the problems with the volunteers leaving and taking the signs down. I love what the race supports and would like to run it again, so I thought some feedback would be helpful. While I was talking to the coordinator, I heard clapping and cheering and much to my surprise another person crossed the finish line! It did make me feel better that someone finished after us.
While looking through the race results, I saw that only 53 people ran in the 10k. I can't be so hard on myself, I have only been running for 9 months. I got out there this morning in the cold, sick, and frustrated, I completed a 10k! Out of 168 runners only 53 of us had the guts to do the 10k!
~Princess Janie
I am in a battle with my body’s endurance levels. I feel
like at around mile 2 I start pooping out. Knowing that I have a stomach that
hold about 3oz of food at a time I am assuming this is the reason why I am
having this battle. I cant fuel my body the way “normal” people do. By the time
I get out to run in the morning I have only had about 3 bites of yogurt and
maybe a bite of banana and honestly I don’t think that is enough at all. I was
told yesterday to start eating oatmeal 2 hours before I run. So guess what I
will be doing this week?? You know it, I will be trying oatmeal to see if this
is going to help. To be continued on that subject……
