Good evening everyone!  Today, I raced the 10k Across the Bay with family and friends.  I wasn’t planning to PR.  I hadn’t run since last Sunday because of the pain in my hip and my hip was still sore today.  So, even as I jumped in line for my corral, I told Sam that she should go ahead and not wait for me because I planned to take it easy and thought I might even have to walk a bit.  I did not plan to race hard.  I’ll get back to the race in a bit.  Let me give you a quick recap of the rest of the week.

MONDAY – No workouts today because it was STEVIE B’s BIRTHDAY!!  We decided to go out to out to Texas Roadhouse to celebrate!  And then we came home to have the cake my mom made for him.

TUESDAY – On Tuesday, Steven and I tried to start eating healthy again.  I started using Map My Fitness once again.  I actually did pretty good, considering the amount of Halloween candy we had leftover.  I decided not to run again to give my hip some more time to heal, but I did swim 1000 meters (or was it yards?) while Gabby was at swim practice.

WEDNESDAY – Body pump!  I increased my weights tonight and felt pretty good.

THURSDAY – Back to swim.  Another 1000 meters (or yards?)

FRIDAY – No workout on Friday.  Steven and I drove to Annapolis to the 10k Across the Bay Expo.  We didn’t spend much time at the expo.  I picked up my bib, checked a bag, looked around a bit and then we headed home.

SATURDAY – Body pump again!  I spent the rest of the day catching up on chores since I knew I would be at the race on Sunday.

SUNDAY (RACE DAY) – I woke up at 4:45 a.m. after a restless night.  After stalling for about 10 minutes, I got out of bed and started getting ready for the race.  I left my house around 5:25 and headed to Hollywood to pick up my mom and my cousin, Missy.  This was going to be their first official 10k.  How exciting!  There was no parking at the start line so we had to drive to the Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium to catch a bus to the start.  We met Sam at the stadium and caught a bus to the start.  We took a couple more pictures near the start of the race.

 

After donating our jackets to charity, we jumped in corral 5 and started the race around 8:10.

Mile 1-2 : The race started on the Western shore of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.  The first .5 mile led us to the base of the bridge.  The next 1.5 miles were spent gradually climbing up to the peak of the bridge.  The views were beautiful.  Although most of the 10k was spent on the bridge, the scenery never got old.  It was the perfect day for a race (cold at the start, but perfect after running a few minutes) and the sun was shining brightly on the water.

Mile 1 – 9:58

Mile 2 – 10:15

Mile 3-4 : What goes up most go down, right?  In this case, YES!  Mile 3 was downhill.  The good news was that it was downhill.  The bad news was that my hip started hurting pretty badly.  I don’t usually feel the hip pain as much during my runs (mostly afterwards).  I’m not sure if it was from the downhill or because my pace picked up, but I was definitely running through some pain this time (not excruciating or I would have stopped).  If I remember correctly, mile 4 was mostly flat.

Mile 3 – 9:16

Mile 4 – 9:24

Mile 5-6.2 : Mile 5 led us off the bridge and this was the most challenging portion for me.  We ran through a little gravel walkway and across a little wooden bridge and then eventually turned back onto a parkway that had another incline/bridge.  We finally turned left onto the last .10 of a mile and I just gave it all I had.

Mile 5 – 9:34

Mile 6 – 9:23

Mile .17 – 1:25

My final time was 59:14!!  An accidental PR!!  I will gladly take it!

 

We collected our medals and water and headed over to the finishers area.  I used the app that was provided to look up my mom and Missy (live tracking feature).  I was having a hard time getting the app to work, but did see a projected finish time for Missy.  I headed over to the finish line to cheer them on and also found my sister there.  Sam spotted Missy (I was a little late with my camera) and less than a minute later, we caught my mom finishing!

Mom had a goal of 1:45.  Well, she crushed that goal with a time of 1:38:44!  Way to go, mom!  Super proud of you!  Mom and Missy made their way over and we continued waiting for Becky’s boyfriend, Jason.  He ended up starting in a later wave than expected because they got stuck in traffic that morning.  So, we had no idea when to expect him.  The live tracking feature was not working and somehow we missed him cross the finish line.  He found us after he finished.

The finishers area was super crowded.  After collecting their shirts and the food bag (including moldy bagels), we decided to head back to the buses.  The bus loading area was pretty crowded but we eventually made our way to the bus that would take us back to the stadium.  Traffic was horrible and the bus drive ended up taking over an hour (yes, I traveled the route faster by foot).  I was so happy to be back to my van and to be headed home, where football Sunday was taking place and there would be a huge pot of chili and some “dirt” pudding waiting for me 🙂  I got home just before 2:00.

I really enjoyed the race.  I loved the route!  There were tons of photographers on the course and I can’t wait to see the official race photos (up to 5 days).  The only drawbacks were (1) The Crowds (mostly at the end…the start corrals were handled nicely) and (2) The long bus ride.  I definitely preferred this race over the MCM10k and would consider doing it again.

This is race number 14 for me this year.  I am registered to run the Richmond half marathon on Saturday.  I hope my hip cooperates!!  After that, I plan to take a couple of weeks off from running to see if my hip will heal on its own.

QOTD – Would you run or walk across a bridge?  People said they could feel the bridge sway, although I never did.  I have developed a bit of a fear of heights and was a little nervous, but I was A-Okay today 🙂