Aquarium Run

Saturday we ran the Aquarium run.  Ty was in the 5k at 7:15am and I ran the 10k at 8:15.  It was nice to be in separate races so I could watch Ty run.  I also enjoyed walking around with Carter during Ty’s race because he was awake the whole time and like most mornings was smiley and happy.

Ty ready to run, Carter ready to watch.

We cut it a little bit close arriving for Ty’s race because we had to go a back way to get to the aquarium.  Ty stopped off at the porta potties and then headed to the race start.  Carter and I found a good spot to watch for him, but then missed him go by.  We walked around and checked things out as we waited for him to finish.  After about 20 minutes, we set up to get pictures of Ty’s finish.  When I saw him approaching I was surprised to see the clock showing just over 25 minutes.  He finished in 25:31 (chip time), a new PR in his 6^th race in 6 weekends!  I was so proud of him.

Ty got water and some food and then we traded off.  He took Carter, I went to the porta potties, and then headed to the starting line.  My plan for the race was to run around 8 minute per mile pace.  I figured if I could run 7:20 pace for a 5k, I could run 8:00 pace for a 10k.  My goal was to run around 50 minutes and I really wanted to break 50.  We were talking about it on the way to the race and I realized of all the races I’ve run, I’ve only ever done four 10ks.  My times ranged from 42-44 minutes.  Obviously I would be nowhere near that!

I took off and was struggling to hold back.  I kept checking my Garmin, attempting to run 8 minute pace.  My first mile was 7:53.  I kept my first 3 miles just under 8 minutes.  Then we turned around and I realized the reason why 8:00 minute pace felt so easy, the wind had been at our backs.  It wasn’t too bad, according to my weather app, about 17 miles per hour (which for Oklahoma is nothing!).  But it was enough I was glad I ran conservatively during the first half of the race.  

 

Running the finishing straight away.

I finished the race in 49:52, averaging 7:56 pace.  Good for 7^th out of 233 women and 1^st out of 45 in my age group.  Ty was 4^th out of 26 in his age group, missing a medal by 6 seconds.  Since Carter was asleep we decided to stick around for the awards ceremony.  I’m glad we did because the medals were really cool!

While we were waiting for the awards ceremony I ate some food and then we went through the aquarium with our free entry for the day.  We checked out all of our favorite exhibits.  I could watch the seahorses all day!  

Breakfast of champions: hamburger, chips, and ice cream!

The race was a lot of fun and I loved getting to walk around the aquarium as my cool down from the race.  We plan to run it again next year.  Check out the race website here if you are interested.  

 I'm linking up with Ashley for Move It Monday.