Fall Race Season is Here!

I've been training, sweating and waiting all summer for Fall. It's RACE SEASON! I chose to opt out of hot, steamy races this summer and just focus on my training. But I'll tell you what, I have definitely been having race withdrawals! I felt like a little kid the night before Christmas Friday night.

This weekend I ran in the Sea Trail 10k race at Ocean Isle in Sunset Beach, NC. As I got all of my things ready for an early morning to get out the door before 6am, I laid out my race outfit, and I think Muffin approved. Either that or she was hoping it would keep me from leaving...

Breakfast was one piece of ezekial bread with 1 Tablespoon of Peanut Butter and some chia sprinkled on top. I also had some Kona Cola flavored Nuun to sip on, on my way to the race and of course my JP capsules!

It poured the entire way to Ocean Isle! It was so humid out, I was actually hoping for rain during the race and even said a little prayer for it to cool down some. I'm sure its the West Coast girl in me, but I cannot stand humidity. This was my first race since Spring for that very reason, trying to avoid the wet heat of Summer in the Carolina's. I have been spoiling myself and running indoors on a treadmill in the AC during my shorter runs lately and that definitely held me back a bit when it comes to preparation for this run.

Race location was pretty easy to find using my GPS and the Sea Trail Community was beautiful! Very green with lots of plants and definitely a nice place to run. Flat overall, but did contain some gradual slopes here and there throughout the 6.2 miles. Packet pickup was available that morning and I was happy to find lots of fun little items, including an energy efficient lightbulb, a first when it comes to race packets for me. 

The race took a couple loops throughout the neighborhood and I ran my first three miles, holding back some in order to negative split, and run my second half faster. This is how I train on my own and in my opinion, the best way to approach races for me, personally. I'm blaming it on the humidity but three miles in, I hit a major wall. I could no longer keep my easy pace, but actually had to drop it down even slower. Mentally, I struggled through the entire thing. I found myself wanting to walk or stop and thankfully, one of my running buddies from Without Limits was just behind me, pushing me along without even knowing it! She ended up getting first in her age group! Go Sue! 

Apparently in years passed, this race hasn't been quite as hot. I would definitely run it again. My goal was to get below 60 minutes for my final time. Unfortunately, I missed it by 1 minute and 25 seconds. It was still a PR for me and I truly think I ran as well as I could have given the conditions. The course was pretty and overall, the experience was a good one in a challenging way!

My first race of the Fall is done and now my focus is back to marathon training and on my next race in October, the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon!

How was your week? Did anyone run this weekend?