Dairy Queen Bunny Hop 10k Race Report

I did it! I ran my first ever 10km race! And I bet my goal time! And I'm on a runner's high! I won a bucket of ice cream!

1 | 9:02
2 | 9:03
3 | 9:18
4 | 9:20
5 | 9:58
6 | 9:42
0.22 | 1:11
6.22 miles | 57:37 | 9:16min/mi (6.4mph) | Avg HR 181bpm

My goal for this race was the time that the MacMillan running calculator had spat out to me. 58:14, or 9:22min/mi.

I ran this race at 91% of my max heart race. Let this be proof that when I want something, I get it.

Mile 1: Flew by. Was surprised when my Garmin's distance alert went by. Was running with a couple of girls from school. Felt good, easy.

Mile 2: Still feeling good, can see the big hill up ahead. Still running with the girls from school, chatting, fun.

Mile 3: The hill. The steep, long, treacherous hill. It must have been at least half a mile. I knew I had to walk for a few seconds. So I did, and the other girls went ahead. Surprisingly, this still ended up being a 9:18 minute mile. We ran a loop through a neighbourhood during this mile, which consisted of another hill. Steeper, but shorter than the first. Thankfully this hill was followed by a downhill and then the water station.

Mile 4: I flew down the hill and then grabbed some water, walked while I drank, and then took off again. A nice downhill here.

Mile 5: Guess what? Another hill. This course carried every variety of hill, the one at mile 5 was the gradual incline type. My legs were burning, this was my slowest mile. I walked for maybe 15 or 20 seconds. I took off my long sleeve race shirt and then felt much better in my t-shirt.

Mile 6: Almost there. In the process of removing my long sleeve shirt, I dropped my headband and a nice man brought it up to me. I ran with him and the guy he was running with for a bit, but then had to slow again (still going up that darn hill). I was so tired at this point. My legs were burning. Looking at my watch and seeing there were about 3 minutes left didn't help. Those felt like the longest 3 minutes in the world. However, I realized I had lost some time with this hill, and decided to pick it up.

Last 0.22 miles: This is where I knew I needed to give it all I had to make my goal time. I picked up my pace to 8:00min/mile and ran for the finish line. People were clapping. I saw the clock. I ran across the line. I felt like I was going to be sick, but I knew I had bet my goal and for that, I was very happy.

Overall place: 157/191

At the finish line there were bananas, water, and easter candy!! I had some after my stomach settled and my heart rate went down. We also all got free sundae tokens since the race was sponsored by DQ. I somehow managed to get blue ink on my nice long sleeve shirt that I got for registering. Hopefully most of it will come out.

My knee felt fine the whole race, and I didn't experience any weird hip pains in my bad leg, like I have been having on my long training runs. Yesterday I hydrated well, took 3 glucosamines, and didn't eat any junk. It paid off, I think!

Here is a graph of the elevation for the race:


Here is what Garmin recorded (I forgot to hit stop a few seconds after crossing the line):


So there we go, a PR because it was my first 10k race. :)

Next race is another 10k in 2 weeks. My goal for that one will be to run a better time than this one.