6.2 Miles of Cold, Wind, and FUN!!!

Race Recap: 11/2/2014 Biggest Loser 10K

Waking up at 5am is new to me, but I knew I needed to eat before trying to run my first 10k. This will be the first time that I would try to run this distance. I had everything ready to go. I packed my clothes the night before and made myself a peanut butter sandwich on an English muffin. As I hate my breakfast, I was starting to get nervous and doubt myself that I could do this. It was cold and windy and I knew I would be fine once I started running. Courtney picked me up and we headed to Six Flags Great Adventure. Walking from the car to the big blue tents, I started to get excited. Then, you see this long line to pick up bibs and it was for the 5k. The 10k line was like 3 people deep which then made me think I was crazy. Then, it was time to get my costume on and wait for the start time. We got dressed and headed to the starting line, after taking some pictures of course.

The wind was blowing as the national anthem was sung by the biggest losers own Dan Evans. The race was starting and the excitement came over me.

The first mile seemed like forever because it was a lot of dodging people and trying to find a comfortable groove of a run/walk ratio. Shortly before mile 2 was a water stop and Courtney was behind me. The course was a lot of mud, rocks, and leaves when we weren’t in the theme park. I got to mile 3 and realized that I could not see Courtney anymore and that this was now up to me to motivate myself (which was always really hard.) The 10k course was a double loop so when we got back to the start/ finish line, we had to do the course over again. At this point, my anxiety kicked in that I had 3 more miles to go. I walked a bit to catch my breath and started to focus on my intervals. I have learned that taking a 30 second break to breath and walk is the best thing I can do to keep myself strong.

At this point, not many people were on the second loop because there were not that many people doing the 10k. I felt like I can focus and really clear my head. I had this moment when I didn’t hear my music anymore and I talked to myself a lot.

I had a goal to finish in 1:15 because I wanted to make sure I was under a 15 min mile. Needless to say, my math was WAY off and I have no clue why I messed that up. As my runkeeper app told me that I was at 1 hour, I didn’t think I was going to make my goal so I decided to have some fun. I started dancing and singing and asking siri to play all of my favorite songs. The course took us through the back of the park and at one point, a dozen or so baboons were staring at us running. I crossed the finish line and got a high 5 from Pam Geil from the Biggest Loser and then I didn't want to fall. 

I received my cool medal and all I had to do was wait for Courtney now. I felt myself getting emotional because I felt strong at the end but nothing was as emotional as when I saw Courtney rounding the corner to the finish. I was SO happy for her. We stood in line for pictures and then I saw my time. I finished in 1:18 with an average pace of 12:37 per mile. I did what I set out to do and did better than expected. I now feel confident that with the proper training and dedication, I can do anything.

 XoXo

ToniAnn
@MrsT9 on Instagram