My First 10k Race (11k) & Fruit for Days

So yesterday was my first 10k race [it was 11k (6.83mi)]  but I keep calling it a 10 because running a 10k made it on my 2013 Goal List, my Bucket List and my 25 While 25. I can't lie, I was pretty nervous about the run itself. I hadn't researched the course, I hadn't run near enough in advance (as weight training had taken priority for a while) and I was just a bag of anxiety. I was running it with Emily and it was her first face so I tried to keep a 'cool front' .. like 'it's an 11km .. no biggie' .. but secretly I was stressin'! [I was being shneaky, Emily:) - as I'm hoping you're reading this ]

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Race Day

My day started at 5:30-am. I wanted to be up early for a shower (to wake-up) and hoped to have time to read up on some blogs for motivation.

Breakfast: vanilla protein pancake + 1-medium black coffee
Motivation: I read up on runs done by Tina from Carrots 'n' Cake, Liz from 125 and the half iron man post that Caitlin from healthytippingpoint just completed. This definitely simmered my nerves and got me amped.

Shortly 6:30-am I headed for the door to do a little drive. I drove around the city listening to Gaga on blast because 1. she pumps me up and 2. I find driving always calms my nerves. I stopped at Esso for a bottle of water (why o why did I do this .. as I'm sure you know what comes next) and then headed to the Pipers parking lot to get started.

Why isn't there anyone at the lot? Hmm .. O I don't know, Ms. 'I'm organized I love my blog and write posts like I have my shit together' ....... you went to the wrong address ! ! ! .. I immediately started to stress and called Emily right away. She gave me the directions to the actual pipers on the map and then I was off (honestly felt as if I was having a mini-heart attack)

I met Emily about 20-minutes before the race started so we could chat and calm each other down (why so many nerves, right?)

We discussed our plans and thoughts about the race and then we were on our merry little way.

I didn't take any pictures of the course because I had my iPhone snug tight into my arm band and didn't want to jeopardize my running by stopping.

The course:

The course was actually awesome! It was a trail with maybe 4 or 5 main road cross-overs. The guys directing the course were really accommodating to the runners and it seemed like the cars were the ones who always had to wait (I saw a lot of pissy drivers).

I loved how the run was on gravel and mainly located in wooded areas. It made the run more peaceful and relaxing. This also aided in the blocking of the wind. When we would hit pavement, the wind was so cold and heavy and there were moments when I found it hard to catch a breath (ha, cause that had nothing to do with being CEO of the smokers club). And on the second half of the race, the wind was gusting directly in our face. It was definitely a challenge and I found myself with my head down towards the ground on more than one occasion.

We were exceptionally lucky to have had such great weather for the race, also. Although it poured on Monday, we didn't experience any rain while running until the last half mile of the course.

Emily and I crossed the finish line with two big ear to ear smiles on our faces.

I finished with a time of 1:02:46 and Emily was right on my tail.

yup, that's an M for male

After the race, we decided we wanted to go for coffee and discuss our accomplishment. I mean, I was really excited about how it all went down and it physically felt like the strongest run I've ever taken part in but Emily was giving off electricity with her excitement (look at the smile she has on the go) :)

What's the best place to sit, sip and be silly?

Ahhh .. you had me at  STARBUCKS!

Lovely festive latte and Christmas cookie!
You more than deserved that :)

Note: I did not eat that mason jar of almonds. I'm still on a clean-eating streak so my reward was 10-almonds and a black Blonde Roast coffee (a sweeter indulgence was to come later in the day).BUT, I WILL be having a Christmas latte after the 30th.

After an hour+ of ramblings and the setting of new goals, I headed out to get a hot shower, some house cleaning and some lunch.

After a small tidying of my room and what turned into a longggg shower, I headed to David's house for some well-deserved lunch (at 2-pm). Other than the 10 almonds, I hadn't eaten since 5:30 because my body didn't feel hungry (not a good move). I think I was in shock because as soon David proposed/prepared lunch, I took one bite and devoured it.

An Indian recipe from Epicure. This dish consisted of quinoa, dates, cubed chicken breast, chick peas and olives. It was f-a-b-u-l-o-u-s! O, and I had a cup of apple cinnamon tea to get rid of the still-existing cold chill in my body.

After eating, I found myself still hungry so I went with some granola for a treat.

And again ... after the granola .. still hungry. David's mother was making apple crisp from the countless amount of apples on her trees, so we helped her out with that while I tried to let my stomach settle (and hope to feel full).

If anything, this made me more hungry. I went from an appetite-less ol' prune to a bottomless pit. David cut up and prepared a lovely fruit plate to munch on and then we went off and had a lazy 'omg-I-am-dead' day. He was super sore from dirt-biking (word?) the day before so there was zero coning him into being a bag o' bones.

cutest baby forks, right?

Note: the bottom of my shirt makes it look like I'm wearing a diaper, doesn't it?
uh ohh

Halfway through the movie, Troy (it's a 3+ hour long move I have you know), we went to check on the apple crisp and then got desert number 2!

Coolio got his paws into this delightful plate of apple crisp (whip cream to top, obv), and again, I had a little granola (couldn't justify the calories .. but the apple crisp looked a-m-a-z-i-n-g) and a cup of steeped Christmas black tea. Yum!

For the remainder of the day, we lazed, accomplished nothing and had laughs. Yup, happy happy Monday-Funday! I couldn't have asked for a better one! :)

Note: I have a post pending with more detail on the actual race (stats, other runners, dos and don'ts)

Hope you all had a great weekend and took a moment to pay your respect on Remembrance Day!



Questions
1. Have you ever run a 5k?
2. Have you ever run a 10k?
3. Have you ever tried apple crisp?
4. Wanna train with me for the Tely next year? I'm getting excited already!