This Is How You Do a 10K

This past weekend, Mike, Kelly, Alex, and I roadtripped to West Virginia for a 10k race in Harper's Ferry. This was actually the first race I had signed up for since last December's Christmastown Dash and, despite the lack of training and 5am wake-up time, I was super excited. DC has no mountains so Fall here just doesn't have the same Fall feeling that being in the mountains brings. Well, we were definitely in the mountains.

The Oatmeal Bowl: I was trying very hard to be extra prepared for the race so I may have made an entire giant bowl of oatmeal with peanut butter, milk, and raisins to take along with us in the car. It was not in tupperware or anything. I seriously just rolled up to their car with a bowl of oatmeal in tow. Pretty silly after realizing Kelly and Alex had packed bagels and cream cheese, but I ate all of my oatmeal for the whole grains which would keep me full and energized far into the race! I may have been made fun of, but I think my pace speaks for itself:)

Backseat kids so excited to be up at 5am!

Even though we gave ourselves extra time to get to the race by leaving super early on Saturday morning, we were a little stressed out when Alex's GPS stopped working due to lack of cell service and  the race organization's instructions seemed like they weren't really written for people coming from out of town. Oh well, we made it to the starting line, woke ourselves up a little more in the 30 degree weather, and I had time to chug some coffee down quickly before the race began!

Me chugging coffee while Alex gets pumped up.

Also crucial to this entire day was each of us downloading a playlist that Mike had made for the group so we could sync it with our run. That way, even if we got separated with our different paces, we would still feel like we were running together. (We had a few close calls where we thought one of us had downloaded it incorrectly, but we all managed to get the entire playlist.) Running to a synced playlist has been on my to-do list for a while now so I was extremely excited for this!

Harper's Ferry 10K Epic Mix:


Theme from Requiem for a Dream       6:31  
We're All In This Together               3:56 High School Musical  
Born To Run                                       4:32 Bruce Springsteen
Be A Man                                       3:30 Mulan
Chariots of Fire                               3:34
Eye of the Tiger                               4:11 Rocky
Run This Town                               4:36 Rihanna and Kanye
I Ran                                               3:57 A Flock of Seagulls
Shake It Out                                       4:38 Florence + The Machine
Go the Distance                               4:33 Michael Bolton
Stronger                                               4:26 Kanye West
Time is Running Out                       3:56 Muse
I'll Run                                               3:49 The Cab
Neverending Story                               3:41 Limahl
Survivor                                               4:09 Destiny's Child
We are the Champions                       3:11 Queen

I obviously was the one who suggest the Flo-Flo song which had been perfectly placed because I hit it almost halfway through my race. The Cab's "I'll Run" was a complete surprise to me. This was the first hit song from a band I showed Alex when we were in undergrad.....one of the few bands I have actually introduced Alex to rather than the other way around:) I almost mentioned adding this song to Mike, but figured no one would have it. Thankfully, Alex suggested it! It's one of my favorite running songs and it came on while I was in my last mile. I crossed the finished line as that song ended:)

Impressions Before and During Race: It was a GORGEOUS course. It was more cold than any of my training runs in DC (under 40 degrees the whole time). I was wearing fleece leggings, a tank top, a long sleeve shirt, and a running half-zip. I got hot on top about a quarter through the race, but just rolled up my sleeves.

Results: This is the link to the results website where you can view the full results. I got 5th place in my age group (20-29...hard to believe I'm right in the middle of that) out of 66 women! What is really interesting/funny is that Mike also got exactly 5th place in his age group (20-29 males). I averaged 8:22/mile which I believe is faster than my pace in any other previous race. Mike averaged 7:43/mile. I definitely ran more than him leading up to the race, but I'm telling myself he is just naturally talented at...everything....so I shouldn't feel bad. :)

Team Harper's ferry 10k Roadtrip:) Reppin WM and DC!

KELSEY HUTCHESON

DIVISION:  10K

Gender:  F         Age:  25

Finish Time:   51:53.5

Pace:    8:22

Age Rank:    5 F-20 to 29

Impressions After Race: I attribute my awesome race time to the amazing playlist (I've always said with the right playlist, I would run forever), to really great racing company, to the cold (makes you want to run faster to keep warm, I think), to great scenery, to the caffeine I drank right before running, and to the oatmeal I had for breakfast of course.

Immediately after the race, we were directed to free pizza, bagels, bananas, oranges, and drinks courtesy of the racing organization. I didn't eat pizza because I just felt I couldn't stomach it, but I had two Panera bagels (they had cinnamon crunch!). Also, we immediately sought out our free beer from the beer garden offered after the race. It was hosted by a Bavarian-style in on the top of a hillside in the area with a crazy good view of Harper's Ferry. I got a Bud Light because I couldn't think about drinking a darker beer right after a race and because the Bud Light guy seemed nice. The sun toasted me back to post-race warmth levels and sitting on that hillside drinking beer in the sun with endorphins flowing through my blood was seriously one of the most peaceful and rewarding moments I have in my memory. It made the 6 miles so worth it.

Step 1) Register. Step 2) Beer.

After the race and driving back to DC, we obviously we were all dead, but we had managed to run 6 miles and chase them with beer before noon! I felt like I didn't have to do anything because I had already been so productive. (Note to self: You should do the waking-up-super-early-to-run thing more. I know you won't. But you should.)

Mike, Kelly, Alex, and I already have our eyes set on our next race. A Tower of Terror 10-miler at Disney next Fall?!?! Guess I'd better start committing to those morning runs.

Much-needed weekend of rest coming up. Hope everyone has a great one!