I decided against the Make Room for Santa 10K - the registration was $45, and I wasn't super thrilled about another "family" event after the Dana Point Fiasco. Instead, I mapped a super simple loop through my neighborhood:
I dressed "Race Ready", 'cause... why not, right? It's tough to see, but the socks are black/purple argyle.
4yr old photographers are the best.
Anyway. The H and I were both running. He offered to run the loop opposite direction from me, so he could meet me at some point with his water bottle. I declined, 'cause it was lovely and cool outside when we were leaving (foreshadowing!). So we took off, and I didn't see him again until I got home.
The first mile always sucks, and I want to quit immediately. I feel sluggish, and my legs are tired immediately, and I always wonder why I'm doing this. It felt like it took forever, but after I hit the 2 mile mark, I feel good. I had my pace times written down, and was watching - I was banking some time, but felt really good still. I was planning on 11:45-12 min/mile, and was hitting a little less.
2 miles, all is well... hit 3 miles, and I'm kinda thirsty, and realize it's getting warm. Hm.
Mile 3.5, and I think I might die. It's HOT. I slowed down a little. The sun is EVERYWHERE. Thankfully, there's a park restroom and water fountain around 3.7. Score!
Quick potty break, and drink some water, and I'm off again... this is what my stop-light wait looked like:
Awful.
Hit mile 4, and I feel okay - not great, it's still hot, there's no shade, blah blah. But I know there's only 2 miles left, and I KNOW I can run two miles. Hit 4.5 miles, and that.was.the.end. I thought I was going to puke in someone's yard. I walked, a lot. The last .75 miles, I was sprinting through the sun and walking through the shade. Terrible.
My splits? Ugly.
Woodbridge and the Sun, 1. Heather, 0.
Finish time was 1:11:28. Not terrible, and I intended to finish by 1:15, so I'm happy with that, but bummed that I didn't plan better. Oh well. There's always next weekend.
