Race Log: Cowtown 10K

The Cowtown 10K was a race I signed up for because my parents were going to be in town and could be there to watch me finish, but after running it, I would definitely do it again! It was cheap, you get a medal, there's great food afterwards, it was really well organized and the course was nice. The downsides were the start time (7am in Fort Worth) and the shirt (plain white cotton t-shirt). Maybe I'm left with such good feelings about this race because I did so well ; )

Once I crossed the start line I took off like a shot. I was dodging people left and right (including walkers who were way too close to the starting line in my opinion) and headed up the first hill. It was nice that it was right out of the gate while everyone was fresh. My goal was to run with a 9:10 pace. Mile 1 was 8:45, Mile 2 was 8:08! I was feeling good and didn't think I needed to slow down to conserve energy so I just kept going. Around Mile 5 I hit a bit of a wall with the wind, but just kept telling myself I had less than 10 minutes to keep running. I can do anything for 10 minutes. Even though it was chilly that morning, it turned out to be perfect running weather.

I rounded the corner for the finish and picked up the pace. I didn't know where my family was and wanted to look good as I passed them ; ) My goal was to finish in less time than my last 10K (58:35) and my hope was to finish in the 56s or 57s. I finished in 54:35!! My average pace was 8:45, over 30 seconds less per mile than my last 10K! When we checked the results I finished 24/402 women in my age group, almost the top 5%. I don't like to have a rank as a goal because you never know who you're up against, but I was thrilled with that!

I met up with my Julie when she finished about a minute later, then my parents and family as we waited for Rachel. This was a day of firsts for all of us: My fastest time, Julie's first 10K and Rachel's first race ever! We made our rounds of the vendors, got our medals and took loads of pictures. Celebratory pancakes afterwards! The best news was that my knee didn't bother me at all, maybe because of my new shoes and all the foam rolling that week. Whatever the reason, I was happy!