Second on the Fourth

I ran my second 10K on the 4th of July, and it was great!! It was the perfect start to an All-American 4th of July. I debated running the race until Friday. My sister-in-law has started running and asked about a good race to run on the 4th. I ran the Freedom Run 5K a few years ago and really enjoyed it. The race is well-organized, and it follows the same route as the parade (which starts shortly after the run), so there are tons of people there to cheer on the runners and lots of kids with their hands out to give the runners five (which is one of my favorite things because you can hear them counting how many people take the time to slap their cute little hands). My sister-in-law signed up for the 5K, and Friday I decided running a good 10K would be an acceptable substitute for my long Saturday run.

After meeting my sister-in-law to make a potty stop and wish each other luck, we went to our starting lines. I stood between the 9 and 10 minute mile signs and waited what should have been about 10 minutes. There was no starting gun, but I was starting to need to go potty. I debated making a run for the port-a-potty, and 10 minutes later stood there wishing I had just gone when the gun finally sounded. After two miles, I knew I would have to stop. I usually just take a few swigs of water before a race, but drank 3/4 of a water bottle on my way to the race that day. Never again!

There were two or three port-a-potties set up every block or so, but they were all on the opposite side of the five lane street. I kept going, keeping an eye out for one on my side. Finally there was one lone potty. I dashed in, did my thing, and ran out to finish the remaining two and a half miles. In spite of a tough uphill first mile, the last 1/2 mile again uphill, and a potty stop that I figure added about 2 minutes to my time, I finished at a strong and steady pace. And my time was over two minutes faster than the 10K I ran on May 23.

My Stats

Chip time: 57:48

Pace: 9:19

(I figure it was really closer to 9:00 when you figure in the potty stop!)

My legs felt strong and didn't hurt much the day after, my tummy didn't bother me during or after the race, and my brother and sister-in-law were there to cheer me across the finish. It really was a perfect run, topped off by meeting my hubby and girls and lots of relatives to watch the parade, then off to a BBQ and watching the kids run around and blissfully enjoy the day until the fireworks finished off the day. Hope you all had an equally wonderful Independence Day!