Mermaid 10k (4/30/22)

I was supposed to run 18 mi but got hit with a cold. I almost didn't go but since Stephanie was doing it, I went and changed to 10k. I still can't believe my speed while sick got me 4th in my age group. 

I pretty much did everything what you shouldn't do prior to a race. 

It's been over a month and I didn't type the rest of this post.  I had 12 hours of sleep total for 3 days prior to the race. I had to fly twice the day before the race! 

I got there too early for a 10k start time but I already had my alarm set and was awake so I went and then tried to nap in the car but failed. 

Since I changed to the 10k, I got to run with Stephanie. She barely trained but could have gone faster since I was going a sick speed. 

I'm so mad I got sick because I could have placed for the 18 mi in my age group. I could have placed for the half marathon too. 

My training plan had the run as an 85 min progression run. I decided to use that run to force myself to finish strong and just hit lap so I could end early.  I didn't end up hitting lap early enough so I had 9 min and 1 min segments at the end vs 10 min and 5 min.  About half way through my breathing was shot because of being sick. I was not a fan!

Stephanie came in 3rd for our age group and I came in 4th. 2nd place was really close so if we were less 40 seconds faster we'd have had 2nd and 3rd. 

I ran with a kleenex in my hand at all times. When I saw the photographer I tried to hide it away. I often had to swap kleenexes after I fully soaked one.  Stephanie ran beside me the entire time. She never did get a cold so that's good.  It was definitely more fun running a 10k with a friend than an 18 mi race solo. I was supposed to run the 18 mi race with Beth but her Dualthon got moved so she couldn't do both. 

Official results have me finishing at 1:01:15. My Garmin has slightly longer. I must not have stopped it on-time. My Garmin had the race distance a little short too. NRC was even a little shorter than Garmin!

Before and after my race, I wore my mask so I didn't get other people sick. I felt like people probably thought I was an insane COVID masker and not sick.  (I ran beside Stephanie and she never got sick. wohoo)

Now another month has passed and I didn't post this. I had waited for the official photos and added them and then didn't post!

After Stephanie and I ran past the photographer I told her we should have made sure our strides were together. They weren't so we don't have a good stride photo with both of us. It's funny that that is what I thought of just after we passed. Just before we passed I said, let me put my klneexes away. 

The race provided photos for free. I love when they do that. Mermaid races are run so well, have nice parking, and mostly provide photos for free. If I wasn't moving, I'd do all the Mermaid Series races next year too.