Toro Dash 10k/Weekend Recap

I want to give a ginormous shout out to my Taylor and Alli, who came out, spent the night, and woke up at 6am to watch me in my very first ever 10k. I love y'all more than you know and you were just the two I needed there cheering me on at the finish line. LOVE LOVE LOVE and all the mushy stuff.

Moving on.

In the midst of a crazy and extremely stressful work day on Friday, I was surprised with this:

OMG WITH THE YUM.

Since they couldn't be there for the race, my family was sweet enough to send me a DELISH good luck edible arrangements box filled with chocolate dipped strawberries, bananas, and apples. I know, chocolate dipped green apples sounds a little weird. Trust me, it's not, it's amazing and I'm pretty sure I even experienced a mini-chocolate-buzz. SO YUM.

After a long day at work Friday, I caught a late dinner with Taylor and Alli where we did nothing but talk about work and realize how old and boring we are. Okay maybe I am the only old and boring one, but misery loves company so let's pretend they are boring too.

After dinner, we made a quick Target run, and then headed home. I was originally a little worried that my nerves would  make it a little hard to fall asleep. Luckily, my Friday sucked the life out of me and I konked out before 11. Crisis averted. 

At 6am Saturday morning my alarm went off, and I took my time getting ready and eating a little oatmeal. I may or may not have had a chocolate covered banana chunk. I don't know. It was early and I can't remember. Maybe I had two.

We got to the race site at about 7:15 and stood around and talked/pretended to stretch for about 45 minutes.

My cheerleader

Pre-race pic!

I was genuinely surprised at how not nervous I was. I think a lot of it had to do with the stress of the day before, but I was really calm. I was honestly just looking forward to getting out there and having a good run. Texas is crazy y'all, and for this December 1 8am race, it was 65 degrees. Later that day it warmed up to about 77, so for a wimp like me, the running weather couldn't have been more perfect. It was a little overcast, but the sun peeked out every now and then and it was just gorgeous.

Once the gun went off, it took a little while to weave around people and get in a comfortable pace. I think that was the part I struggled with the most. It was hard to figure out how to pace myself while running alongside so many people. Since it was my first race ever, I was so excited to be running with a group of people. The energy and the atmosphere was so contagious. I never once got to a point where I felt tired, or out of breath, or anything. I know, I'm just as surprised as you. I also think that my bangin'  race day playlist had a little something to do with it as well. 

Okay, confession time. Once I got about a half a mile into the race, I passed a guy in a yellow shirt. Well about a minute goes by and this gentlemen proceeds to pass me. Fast forward a little bit, and yellow-shirt guy and I are in an unspoken competition. I'd pass him, and a couple minutes later, he'd pass me. This went on, back and fort until about mile five, when I decided that I was going to kick his ass. Not literally, but you know. He was going down. 

I got so determined and actually excited about the idea of sharing with you all that I even took a picture of him right before I passed him for the last time. (And I really wish I'd paid attention to his bib number so I could stalk his race results and know how much I beat him by, but I'm not that smart.)

I am aware that from this picture it appears that
there were no other race participants. I swear there were. 

Once I got to mile five, (and passed yellow shirt dude) I felt like I'd saved up enough energy to really push hard for the last mile. 

Not so cute, I know.

 

I had SUCH a blast. I cannot wait to run another! I'm so glad this went so well, because it really got me pumped up about the Cowntown half in February. I actually feel like I can do this, and am really looking forward to continuing on with training. This was definitely the extra boost I needed to keep going. I am totally obsessed with reading the nitty gritty details of other runners' race recaps, so I'll share with those of you who are like me. My chip time was 57:08, even though I was really really hoping for a sub 57, I'm so not a speedy runner at all, so I am definitely pleased with the results. And I wound up being 13th place out of 73 female 10k runners! My splits were:

Mile 1- 9:38
Mile 2- 9:44
Mile 3- 9:26
Mile 4-9:05
Mile 5- 8:44
Mile 6-8:18

I'm really SO excited that I ran two sub 9 minute miles, because I swear to you, that never ever happens. I'm a slow poke for reals, so it's exciting to see what I'm capable of, and it's motivating me to want to incorporate a little bit of speed workout into my current running routine.

I know it may  be hard to believe, but a one hour race didn't take up my entire weekend. Shocking, I know. My roommate is the most amazing person in the entire world, and she volunteered to cook an AMAZING pancake breakfast for me and my two cheerleaders, and she had it set out and waiting on the table when we got back from the race. Yes she is perfect and NO you cannot have her. (Somehow I was so focused on breakfast that I forgot to take a picture of her. Oh well, you remember how adorable she is from our roomie Christmas decorating party.)

After breakfast, my cheerleaders left, which gave me time to clean, shower, and do a little bit of Christmas shopping before meeting back up with my Tater Tot. After a late lunch, the exhaustion of the morning hit me and we took an AMAZING two hour afternoon nap. Those are rare and much appreciated. 

After dinner we headed up to Oklahoma to spend the night at Winstar World Casino with his crazy roommates. 

At one point I was up a whopping $1.50. To celebrate, I stopped gambling and started drinking and watching other people throw their money away. Which if you ask me is way more entertaining. The entire night only cost me twenty bucks. Total success.  

Sunday morning Taylor and I met up with my dad at the shooting range and  played with guns. Just kidding you don't play with guns. And gun safety is no joke. Seriously kids.

I look badass right?!!

I couldn't be more excited that Christmas is only 22 days away! I was able to get started on a lot of my Christmas shopping this weekend, and am hoping to finish up by this week/weekend. This is the BEST time of the year! 

Have you gotten a jump start on your Christmas shopping?

LOVE&HUGS,

Nat