2015 runBucks 10 miler

My running goal for 2015 is to run races between 5 and 10 miles. Shorter than that it hardly seems worthy of the time to pay for the race, drive to the start line, and do the race. Longer than that feels like too much work.

I hoped my first race of 2015 would be the runBucks Mother's Day 10K -- a nice women 's focus race, plus it is on Mother's Day, so I get to choose the activity. Our church had other plans. They decided May 10th would be the perfect day for confirmation, and Ashley is a member of the confirmation class. Okay, plan B. What other races are being run by runBucks? Oh, look ... they have a 10 miler on May 3. 10 miles. 10 kilometers. Practically the same, right?

You are all smart enough to know there is about 3.8 miles difference between a 10K and a 10 miler. No, they are not the same. Back in February when I hit the registration button, I had plenty of time to train, besides, it was still within my race distance goal range.

I also thought I'd have my diet under control. This was my first race after my recent diagnosis. I'm still not comfortable going public with this information, and since only a few people actually read the blog, and less will click on the link, and those that do are the ones who truly care about me, this hardly feels like going public. As a result, I have completely changed my diet from eating what I feel like, but aiming for low-fat higher carbs to low carbs higher protein and fat. Not the typical runner's diet, but I've never thought of myself as a typical runner.

What does one eat prior to and during a race when she is trying to eat low carbs, and aiming for low glycemic ones at that? When you know the answer to that, please share it with me. I had a chicken dinner with a huge salad and 2/3 cup of spaghetti squash the night before the race. I ate 2/3 of a sweet potato prior to the race. Downed a GU gel during the race (forgot how much they stick to your teeth, so I stopped at one), and some watered down Gatorade at a water stop. Post-race food was mostly carbs (go figure), but they did have some meatballs, so that's what I ate. I also had a Strong Kind bar on the drive home.

My life has been revolving around food since early February, and now (so it seems) are my race blogs.

Let's get back to the fun part -- the race. 

The 10 mile race was held on May 3 -- the same day as the Broad Street Run in Philly. It was billed as an alternative to the BSR -- same distance, but without the lottery and the crowds. To put it in perspective, BSR has 40,000 runners, this would cap out at 500. BSR has a lottery to see if you get in. This one took registrations day of. They only had 250 runners. RunBucks had same day packet pick-up, and easy parking. Take that BSR!

 It was a picturesque, flat route along the canal starting in Washington Crossing, PA. We went up five miles. Turned around. Came back five miles. There were 3 water stops -- used twice each, so a nice interval.

This year's theme was nerds. I wore my Princeton Half Marathon Einstein shirt with an orange sparkle skirt. I was one of only a few people wearing a costume. Oh well. I did appreciate seeing the Pi mile marker at 3.14 miles. Ahh...PHM a race I swore I would not do again this year, but it looks like I will be doing it as a "balloon lady." More on that in an October blog post.

It is a pretty route. Runners were nice. I was concerned when the description said parts of the route were single file -- after all this is an out and back race, we do have to cross paths at some point (for me it was before mile 4, hey, I'm slow and I own it). The narrow parts were the few feet under bridges. We also had to contend with the many other people enjoying the path that day. It was the first hot day of 2015 (temps reaching to the upper 70s) and absolutely gorgeous.

They did try to have some fun with this race. The sign on one side points to the mule. On the way back it says "Same Mule." In 2003 as part of Miles of Mules, 45 mules were auctioned off. I suspect this was one of those mules.

Now would probably be a good time to brag about my overall fabulous pace. Since the diagnosis I have taken nearly 30 seconds off of my per minute pace. Therefore this should have been my fastest PR, right? It was a flat course. What could go wrong? Well, that faster pace only sticks with me for about 5K. I had more than twice that distance to go for this race. I ended up keeping my new pace pretty well for the first four miles, then decided rather than run/walking I would just run. The "wheels" never fell

off, but my fuel runs out. Actually I was able to pick up my walking pace, but only ran a minute or so at a time for the second half of the race. That is something I will have to work on over the next few months. My next long race will be the Princeton Half Marathon on October 4, where Meaghan and I will be encouraging racers to stay ahead of us to the finish line. We will be maintaining a 14 minute pace from beginning to end, rather than my usual jack rabbiting pace that transitions to a death march up Herrontown Road. All kidding aside, I am looking forward to doing this with Meaghan. I met her during the Caffee Gelato race last year. She has the right attitude to make it fun.

Next up: Spring Lake 5 Miler.