Here’s another one from the archives that I started writing and forgot to finish. Woopsies! It’s too funny not to finish it and share it. Also, I have learned from the error of my ways and am not leaving posts half written. 😉
This year, I did the Reeds Lake Run 10k for the first time. It was a lot of fun! But also, it was terrible. Okay, not terrible, but it was hot and hilly. While I walked through the sprinklers of several very kind people and stopped to grab ALL the Gatorade I could, I had some time to think about what I was learning in the process of this race.
Here are 10 things the Reeds Lake 10k taught me about myself.
I love the 10k distance.
You get 5k in and you’re like, “Sweet, only a 5k to go!” It’s over a lot sooner than a half marathon, but an hour of running is still a heck of a good run. I’ve never done a 10k before, so it was a fun new experience for sure.
I don’t mind hills 3 seasons out of the year.
But I really hate them in the summer. Sunny, hot, sweaty, awful hills are enough to make me denounce running forever and donate my medals to a gun club for target practice.
We have some BOSS seniors in this city. And amazing kids!
I ran with some women who were so insanely nice and supportive. We kept passing each other than catching up when one of us slowed down. I call it ‘leap frogging.’ But they were super nice and talked about how it was a great day for a run (lies!) and they were happy to be out. I was like, heck yes! You ladies are awesome! Most of them were at least old enough to be my parents, and some of the women around me were older than that. I LOVE that we can go run races and seriously compete with kids that are SEVEN years old (yes, I watched some seven-, eight-, and nine-year-olds killing the 5k) all the way up to men and women who are septuagenarians. That is so cool.
I’m really good at knowing my body.
I know when I can push it. I knew for River Bank that I could push hard for that race because I was feeling good, the cool weather was stellar, and I was trained (ish) for it. I knew for Reeds Lake, however, that I was going to barf or collapse if I pushed too hard. That’s just how I am in the heat, but I can at least be happy that I know my limits and won’t end up on the side of the course paying my respects to vom.
I look dorky in a visor.
No ragrets.
Which reminds me, I am SO not made for this weather.
I would love nothing more than to have hoodie weather all week, and just enough heat on the weekends so that I can go to the beach. That would be my favorite world ever. Then, a couple weeks of snow for Christmas, some chillier days for fall, cool rain for spring, and I’d be set. I don’t need any days over 75 degrees. None. And I practically can’t run if it’s 60 degrees or warmer. I should probably live in Canada. Or Alaska.
Race marketers are liars. Just kidding. DOn’t hate me.
They said there were only 2 hills. I stopped counting after 2 because I was full of rage and couldn’t keep score. But still, it was hilly. Don’t fib, Reeds Lake race directors!
Strawberries are so good.
I recently talked some hardcore smack about strawberries. I think I said they were the suburbs of the berry world. Alright. Good for kids. Pretty safe, but boring, and overrated. I take it back. Strawberries are at least as good as raspberries, and the huge, kinda warm ones at the end of the race were the most amazing juicy fruits I’ve ever had.
I will run faster for beer.
I knew there wasn’t beer at the end. It hindered me.
I’m good at dressing for the weather.
I saw so may people over-dressed and overheating. I knew it was going to be hot, so I wore almost as little as I could. I mean, yeah, I could have worn one of those little running Speedos and a sports bra, but realistically, no. So I wore short shorts, bra, tank top. I saw lots of people in long pants and tanks under t-shirts. Yikes! How were you people not dying? It was so hot!
So that’s my overview. The race was a lot of fun, even when I was slogging through. I saw a lot of familiar faces and was so happy to run with everyone. It was amazing to see so many families running together, and parents encouraging their kids while running. The spectators were sweet, and nice for leaving on their sprinklers (yeah, I did jazz hands through a lot of sprinklers). The only thing I’d like to see is more/better information pre-race (especially on the website) and a little better prep post-race. I had no idea where to park, but figured it out. The food situation was a little scattered with some people getting cold water and others getting warm, and warm string cheese left out (heh), but that pretzel bread was sooooo tasty, and we loved the strawberries, obviously. It was roomy and organized at the end, so that was great. I would totally do the race again. Maybe just the 5k next time. 😉