Papa John’s 10 Miler

Papa John’s 10 Miler    April 3, 2010

The Papa John 10 Miler race was on Saturday at 8am. I woke up at 5AM!! I needed to eat at least 2 hours before the race, so that was the only way to do it. During the last race (6.2 miles) I didn’t eat much beforehand and was a little light headed at the end. I did not want that that to happen this time!

I met Lynn at Starbucks, although she got stuck in traffic and I started to panic by thinking that she wasn’t going to show up and doubting that I would be able to do it by myself. We got in line and then it started, so we didn’t have time to pee- I wondered if we would need to stop and use a port-a-pot on the way, but after a little while I forgot about having to go!

The first 2 miles weren’t bad. Since we were towards the back, it had thinned out quite a bit, so it wasn’t that crowded which is good. Benjamin was between mile 2 and 3, on Southern Parkway before Taylor Blvd and he got some pictures.

We then got to Taylor/New Cut Road and the wind was crazy. It was blowing flowers and leaves all over the place. It also knocked over some of the trash cans for the water bottles and runners had to dodge them. We saw the wheel chair racers and then the first 2 men runners coming back from the park. They run about twice as fast as us.

Then the wind caught my hat and blew it off- so I had to chase it down. We then turned into Iroquois Park and it is flat for a little while, then 2 or 3 miles of HILLS. We slowed down during the hills, walked about 30 seconds at each of the 2 big hills. Between mile 4 and 5, I got out a Gu packet (Espresso Love) and had some more water.

There was a strange looking guy along the way yelling funny things, but it made everyone laugh. It distracted me for a minute, so that was good. We also crossed the 5 mile marker and I thought- okay, half way- we can do it!

Just as we were leaving the park, Lynn said, “Did you feel that rain drop?” I looked up and the sky was gray! And then it started to sprinkle and then a good downpour. I had my hat, so it wasn’t too bad. By that time, I had gotten hot and the rain cooled me down quite a bit.

By mile 7, my legs were tired! By mile 8, I started to look for my aunt Pam because she said she might try to make it out. The rain had stopped by then but I didn’t see her. We finally hit another water stop on Southern Parkway underneath the I-65 overpass between mile 8 and 9, I think. We had another Gu packet (Tri-Berry). They had little cups of water instead of bottles and those were terrible. I spilled most of it on me and then there were cups everywhere. We slowed down to a walk almost just to get the water and not fall over the cups. My knee then started to hurt after that, but we kept going.

We turned onto 3rd street and we could see the Papa John’s Stadium and we got to mile 9. Michael’s band (Leaving London) was supposed to play there but because of the rain, I guess they had to pack up because I don’t remember seeing or hearing them. We turned onto Central Ave and that bridge overpass was rough! It is a good little hill and then it started to sprinkle a little bit. It was a little downhill, and then we turned onto Floyd, ran along side the Stadium and finally turned into the Stadium parking lot and then through the end of the Stadium.

Yay, we made it to the stadium!

As we entered the stadium, I saw Benjamin and his uncle David (who finished about 10 minutes earlier). Then we had to run down the side of the field, and the end zone, and most of the way down the other side. It was on the artificial grass, so it was softer than the road. We saw the end and crossed!! It was 1:50:19. Lynn’s watch said it was 10.2 miles!!! You can see the “clock time” and we were 5 minutes behind the starters.

We finished!!!

We got some pictures and then moved to pick up our goodies. They always have water and Gatorade and Panera bagels- yum! Since this was the Papa John’s race and at the Stadium, they had pizza for the runners. I initially wasn’t that interested in the pizza, but I ended up eating it because I was so hungry.

Pizza Time

My goal was to get under 2 hours, so I was pleased. My fear was that I was going to get so tired and discouraged and have to walk a lot, but that didn’t happen. I was so worried that I was either going to injure myself or pass out and not be able to finish.

We went to lunch afterward with Benjamin’s step dad and his running friends. They had finished quite a bit earlier than me and had reservations for Lynn’s Paradise Cafe- so we got our food fast which was good because I was still hungry!!

My left foot hurt on the way to the car- it was the tips of my toes. They had rubbed my shoe I guess. My knees were also sore that afternoon. We went to the mall that evening, so I got some walking in which was good for me.

I was sore the day after, mostly going up and down stairs. But otherwise, I felt good and am pleased with it. I have 1 more big race, the half marathon (13.1 miles) in 3 weeks- YIKES!

Here is Lynn’s race recap and also Stringsn88keys race report.

Sorry for the wonky centering (in Firefox at least), I have been fighting with WordPress and it won tonight!