The Herndon Festival 10k Race!

So, my second 10k! Even though the 10k was a month ago, and I'm horrible for not blogging about it, I still want to share :). Better late than never, right?

This will be a short post, because the race was awesome. AWESOME!

I woke up at 6am to a cloudy sky and chilly temperatures. Perfect for race day :). It was in the mid 60's, which is optimal running temperature for me, and a drastic change from the race last year (which was stifling hot and humid).

My Mom was running the race too (hubby opted out this year - too much school/work and not enough time to train), so we met up at about 7:10 and warmed up and stretched together before the race. I was nervous because I had forgotten to take my inhaler (sport's induced asthma - sometimes), but my Mom was great at getting me to chill out lol.

The race started at 7:30, and I ran with my Mom for a few minutes, then told her to go ahead. She's faster than me (how great is that? lol), and I made the mistake last year of busting out on the first mile (8 minute mile) and having to fight my way for rest of the race. The course is really hilly, so if you kill yourself on the first mile you're in trouble. This year I came into the first mile at 9:02 and feeling amazing. The best part was that each mile I felt better and better. I've never felt like that before, and can hardly describe the feeling. It was like I had wings! The harder my feet pounded the pavement, the better I felt. Miles 2-6 I came in either at or right under 9 minutes. And when I finished? I felt good! Really good :).

I improved my time from last year by 4 minutes (I did 55 minutes this year) and was absolutely thrilled! My Mom, aka "Mrs. Speedy", also improved her time from last year, coming in at 52 minutes. My goal next year? Keep up with my Mom! haha (no seriously - that will be my goal).

The icing on the cake was that my Mom actually came in second place in her age group and got a medal! How cool is that? :)


Hooray, we finished!


Pose!


Hahaha


Go Mom Go!


Happy with the race

I'm looking toward another 10k race at the end of August or middle of September. We'll see if I sign up!