Rockville Centre 10K race report

Normally when I have a race coming up, I get a little obsessed. I worry about the weather. Worry if I'm prepared. Worry about reaching my goals.

Not this time.

On Saturday, I ran a low-stress (for me) 10K. But let me backup so you can see how really low stress the whole thing was.

On Friday, Owen, the kids and I went to Long Island for a family visit. When we planned the trip, Owen mentioned that it was also the weekend of the big local race -- a 5K and 10K that runs right by my mother-in-law's house. He suggested that I run it. Hmmm . . . not a bad idea.

So, a week or two ago, I signed up and planned to race on Saturday. As it happened, one of Owen's friends was playing guitar at a bar in town on Friday so we decided to do that, too. We put the baby to bed,  left Grandma with the kids and headed out. To a crowded bar. Yay, us!

Owen knew every other person in the bar so it was a great time. Two drinks and a few hours of standing on pointy-toed boots later, I left him at the bar with his pals and I went back to my MIL's house to try to get a decent night's sleep before the race.

No such luck.

Owen got back -- late -- and that woke me up and kept me up for a good hour. Then, the boys woke up  -- early --  and had no interest in going back to sleep. So, we were all up and at 'em by 6. I couldn't really spend much time worrying or preparing because I had all sorts of mom stuff to do.

At 9:40, Owen drove me to the starting line and I fell in with the crowd. I knew that I wanted to run a PR and was hoping for a sub-48 minute finish. But, I didn't know exactly what to expect, given that I had stayed out later than I had planned to the night before, and had worn those completely impractical pointy-toed boots.

I didn't worry. I just went for it.

The first two miles of the 10K were run with the 5K and I told myself -- repeatedly -- not to get caught up in the 5K pace. That's just too fast.

I did it anyway. I definitely ran too fast for the first two miles. Bad move, Happy Runner.

Shortly after the 5Kers split off, I came upon my cheering section by my MIL's house. I crossed the road to get a high-5 from my little guy:

Just past Mile 2 in the Rockville Centre 10K.

Yes, I was in a long-sleeved shirt when I should have been wearing a short-sleeved one. Ugh.

The high-5 gave me a nice boost and I ran on through the pretty neighborhoods of Owen's hometown. I was going strong and feeling very good about the race, confident that I would set a new PR and hopeful that I would come in under 48 minutes.

Then we made the second-to-last turn at about Mile 5.

Holy wind, Runman.

Yeah. That was a lot of wind in the face for a long way. Seriously, about a full mile of wind. Smack in the face. I kept telling myself that I could do anything for 7 minutes. 6 minutes. 5 minutes. 4 minutes. 3 minutes.

And then some dude ran by and yelled out, "Just over 600 to go!"

No freaking way.

I looked at my Garmin and there was No. Freaking. Way. I could make 48 minutes if there were 600 meters left. No way.

He had to be wrong.

He had to be.

And he was. Because here's how I finished:

Finishing the Rockville Centre 10K -- in PR time!

Officially, 47:38. A GIGANTIC 3 minute and 3 second PR!

(And, btw, my old PR was set when I was a spry 32 year old. This one? Yeah, set at 41.)

Not only did I PR, but I finished 3rd in my age group and got a very nice bronze medal. Hooray!


My race stats:

Overall time: 47:38 (7:40/mi pace)
Overall place: 70 out of 452
Overall female place: 12 out of 202
Age group (40-44) place: 3 out of 32

It was a great race and I'm so glad I ran it! I think this low-stress thing works for me.

The rest of the weekend was very nice, too. Hope yours was as well! Thanks for reading.

~ Felice