GYRO 10K Race Report

Saturday morning was the highly anticipated GYRO race.  Sarah and I began talking about organizing a GYRO race months ago. We thought it might be a fun, no-pressure way for the GYRO runners to celebrate their training this summer.

The night before the race, I decided to make some signs to add a little bit of fun.

GYRO typically stands for Get Your Run On, but I thought that on race day, GYRO could also stand for Get Your RACE On!! :)

Mathis and I got to the Huckleberry at about 7:00am Saturday morning.  It was lightly sprinkling when we arrived, and it rained on and off for the next 30 minutes.  The other runners started arriving, and it looked like we might end up running in the rain.  I was just thankful that it was cool outside!

Five people ran the 10K and six people ran the 5K option.  Sarah and I ran the 10K together, and we kept a great pace.  We talked some, and the run really seemed to go by quickly!  This is us coming up on the half-way point.

As you can tell, it was pretty wet.  We were definitely soaked by the end of the race, but  it never seemed to pour down very hard.  Again, I'll take the rain over the heat any day of the week! :)

My goal was to run the 10K in under an hour.  I knew this was a pretty big goal to meet, and I didn't want to pressure myself to much in case it didn't happen.  But once Sarah and I made it to the half-way point, I began to really think I had it in me!  The last half was TOUGH, and we had one big hill to climb (over the train tracks).  Sarah really pushed me to keep going, and I knew I was running fast, because my breathing was all over the place!  We made it to the finish line in 57 minutes, 37 seconds.  Since my Garmin was a little short of 6.2, I made Mathis run an additional .10 with me to reach a finish time of 58 minutes, 33 seconds.

I cannot tell you how HAPPY I am to have that time!!!!  When I ran my 8K in April, I had a time of 52 minutes, 14 seconds (10:30 pace).  The fact that I was able to run this 10K at a 9:25 minute pace makes me soooooo happy!!!!  I've known that I can run at a 9:30 pace for the 5K distance, but the fact that I could keep this pace for 6.2 miles is so exciting!  I am really proud of the progress I'm making, and it definitely encourages me that I'm going into my marathon training with a strong base built up.  I know that relatively speaking, I'm still somewhat of a slow runner, but I've made SO much progress since beginning last November.

Mathis finished in 52 minutes, 26 seconds (8:26 pace).  He ran with another guy, named Evan, for the whole race, and they kept a great pace.  I'm always amazed by Mathis' speed, and I'm so grateful to be married to a runner! :)

Here's a shot of (most of) the runners and volunteers post-race.

After finishing our rainy race, we headed over to Sarah's for a victory celebration!  We slipped off our wet shoes and had a FABULOUS breakfast!

The brunch was a great way to celebrate together.  Sarah even had mimosas for us!  My legs were already feeling a little sore at this point, so I decided to stretch out on the floor while eating the delicious food.

Even though the race was low-key, it was a lot of fun!  I would have never ran that fast if it was a regular training run, and I'm glad that I pushed myself yesterday.  I'm so grateful for GYRO, and for all the work Sarah puts into this running club.  It was a great race, and I'm already looking forward to the next GYRO race!!

Miles: 6.2
Time: 58 minutes, 33 seconds

Miles this Week: 9
Miles this Month: 56