Race Day- 10k Race

I really liked today's race. I had a much better experience today then I had at our last race on July 4Th. I think the it's because:
-because we didn't work the day before the race. Usually we both have to work.
- we went to bed earlier. Still to late for how early we had to wake up, but still earlier then normal.
- I had a lot more practice for this particular race.
- I had a goal for what I wanted to do as far each mile.
- I had stuck by my interval training as best I could in the last month.

So, here's my recap for today as far as the good, the bad, and the ugly:

So, today was race day.
The good:
1. We were able to pick up are packets the day before so we didn't have to worry about it the day of.
2. We got some free samples like lotion and Luna bars. I also bought some cute pink tech socks that had the race organizations logo on it.
3. This was the first race event that we went to that had so many participants because there were four different races involved in it: the half-marathon, the 10k, the 5k and a one mile fun run.
4. We got a cool tech shirt. Its black and blue.
5. They had tacos and bananas after the race.
6. I was really proud of my husband! He did so good! He did the race in 58:21 minutes.
7. It was so cool because while I was running the race, so were the half marathoners. At one point the winner of the half marathon passed me up with the police motorcade. It was so cool to see how fast he was still able to go after ( what had for him been 12 miles already).
8. We actually got to travel to go to a race, which was a first. It was a 3 hour trip to Irving, which is where we have some friends and it was the first time I had ever been there and it was very pretty. Lots of trees.
9. It wasn't hot at all.
BUT MAINLY, AND I HAVE SAVED THE BEST FOR LAST:
10. I IMPROVED MY 10K RUN TIME 4 AND A HALF MINUTES FROM MY TRAINING RUN!! I DID 2 MINUTES FASTER THEN I WANTED TO DO!!!


The Bad:
There really wasn't that much bad about the race.
- they did not have any water bottles at all before the race. So it was 2 miles before I had any water because I left my water in the car. However, they had 2 water spots that we passed by 2x in route, so basically there were 4 stops to us to get either water or Gatorade.
-There was no 4 mile race sign that I saw. So i was starting to freak out because i was wondering what was taking me so long to reach the 4 mile mark. every previous mile before that i had exceed the goal i had for my self. But when i FINALLY saw the 5 mile mark, I FELT SO RELIEVED when I realized it was not in fact me.
- I seriously probably could have shaved at least 2 minutes off my time if I hadn't had to tie my shoelaces 4 freakin times throughout the race.

The Ugly:
First, the annoyance. That Gatorade was GAWD AWFUL. I appreciate them giving it us, but it tasted horrible. Like soap. Maybe it's just that flavor. But it was horrible.
Secondly, the blow.
I was so, so, so excited to see that they were going to be having free professional sport photographers. That is until I went to the website and saw the proofs of my picks. I look enormous. It is so embarrassing. My husband, who was not at all interested in the sports photos, looks awesome. He has great runners legs. Figures.
I need to be more disciplined in what I eat, because it's brutal to see those thunder thighs of mine. :(

The Lessons Learned:
I don't really know what lesson I learned from here. Other then, tie my shoes better and lose weight. The reality is that if I lost weight, that besides the DUH! benefits of being healthier, would make me faster. I also know that the only way to increase my speed is to increase the amount of time I spend running in my intervals. However, I have become pretty comfortable with my walk 2 minutes, run 1 minute ratios and it will be hard to move on from there.

We are planning on doing another race, just a small 5k in 2 weeks, which we still need to sign up for. I'm still hoping we do that 10 mile race at the end of the month, but like always, it just depends on how far along I have gotten in my long runs( current longest distance run is 6.62 miles, 3.38 miles short of 10 miles, which is a lot)
I really recommend this race. It was awesome. Pretty course, nice weather, nice amendments, the whole works.

This is a YouTube video that was on the NEW YORK Marathon's facebook page about a man who lost 120 pounds through running and eating healthier. Its really inspiring and beautiful and has coldplays " fix you" song,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SbXgQqbOoU