Hustling In My Home Turf

Everything below is my own opinion. I did not receive compensation for mentioning any products or services.

Ack! Another back-to-back series, I’m writing late. I don’t remember much happening before the race. I can see on my Garmin that I did my regular Saturday 10K run with the Olathe Running Club. My thought is that if I do the same series next year, I can do six miles the day before as well. That way I can hit the 50K with my friends and do 50 miles on my own. In case you didn’t read my last post, I’m turning 50 next year and I want to do something to mark the occasion.

The packet pick-up was at REI in Overland Park. It isn’t too far away from us, parking is fine, and it is easy to find. No issues with this one either. There was no shirt for this race which is fine. I mean at this point I have a million shirts. The item with your bib was a nice warm beanie. Living in the Kansas City metro, you do have use for a nice warm beanie. I think I only have three or four others from running events. At least I don’t have a ton like I do shirts. Anyway, I was in and out pretty quick. It was kind of a rainy day if I remember right, but there was no rain for race day.

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No need for a ride or to get up super duper early. I got there and parked where I normally do for the Mother’s Day 5K. I didn’t check and realize the start was all the way across the parking lot. I messaged my ORC running pals, Amy and Jane. They were headed my way actually because the porta-potties happened to be right in front of my car. I got out of my car and chit-chatted with them for a bit while they waited in line for the bathroom.

After we left the bathroom line we caught up with some more running buddies, Allison, Stephanie, and Jennifer. We walked to the start and asked someone to take our picture. Little did we know it was one of the Mile 90 Photography photographers. She got one for the photo website too.

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  Photo Credit: Mile 90 Photography

The weather was really nice. It was only slightly wet from rain the day before and the nearby sprinklers. We were a little huddled to the right of the start due to some sprinklers shooting off toward us. We once again all lined up together, but after a very lovely National Anthem, we all headed off on our own race. I had heard that Kyle from the Back of the Pack podcast was going to sweep this race since this was his baby. He had mentioned it in one of his episodes. It almost made me want to hang out with his group, but I was kind of curious as to what I could do.

Usually, when the days get shorter I jump on a treadmill because it is too dark for me to comfortably run on my own. Most of my groups meet waaaaay early for me. That or I wait to run in the afternoon. I used to do that a lot, but it really ate into my day and all the things I needed to get done. The treadmill here recently is my early morning winter go-to. I watch or listen to something on my phone as I log my miles. I do feel like I get some good speed work though because I can control it better. That is another reason I was curious as to what I could do for this race.

I had my music ready instead of a podcast. I seem to run faster with the music. I was jamming along. I remember wishing the leaves were changing already. This area is really beautiful around October when the leaves turn a really pretty yellow. I saw another running buddy, Karen on the course. I saw a lot of them at the turnaround point for the 10K people. The race happened to have a 5K as well. I think the only thing that was tricky was passing on such a narrow path, but we made it work.

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  Photo Credit: Mile 90 Photography

I was getting tired toward the end, but my time was really good for me. I thought maybe I might get a PR (personal record) if I picked it up a bit. As I got closer to the finish I could hear someone gaining on me. I figured it was just the push I needed to get to the finish. From my view, I finished before the other person, but the pictures make it look like a photo finish. My time was 1:07:29.9.

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  Photo Credit: Mile 90 Photography

I saw Allison, Karen, and another runner I know, Lynda at the finish. I chatted with them a bit. Allison wanted to go back and run with her friend Stephanie who was pushing a stroller. I saw a video later where Allison pushed the stroller the last bit so her friend could just run. I thought that was so nice.

Not a lot was going on that day except the Chiefs game which was out of town. I didn’t have to worry about rushing to a tailgate or anything. I think it was a pretty chill day the rest of the day. I did check to see if I had a PR. Looking at my Garmin, my best 10K was in October of 2016. It was under 58 minutes! How can I ever do that again? I wish it had been for a race so I could have celebrated it. It was a training run I did before the Disneyland races (Disney Gauntlet Challenge) that November after we did the Goofy Challenge to get our Coast to Coast medals. I don’t know if I can ever beat that.

Next week will be a challenge. We have the KC Zoo run the whole family is doing on Saturday right before My Girl’s Youth Chorus of Kansas City fun event. Then Sunday I have the Boulevard 10K right before we tailgate for the Chiefs game. I can’t wait to tell you how that went.