I did the Knott's coaster run 10k as we know I love running through theme parks!
The day before I did the Chi Running clinic and it was fabulous. I learned a lot about running form and decided to implement my top 3 issues: keeping my shoulders relaxed, facilitating a mid foot strike, swinging my arms equally and working on my lean to put less pressure on my calves. (more on this coming soon-I promise!)
The night before we(Me and Mallory of course #julesandmal) went to Devins wine and cheese party for a bit before coming home and have a carb heavy dinner and drinking a lot of water. We got to sleep around 9:45 for a 5am wake up. I woke up feeling fine but the rain was a bit loud. We got dressed and ready pretty quick and headed out around 5:30.
The weather was pouring on the drive down which means it took us longer to get there-around 6:15. We were able to park right across from the finish and walked over to the start line to get our bibs. We were I our rain coats and hoped the rain would stop. We ended up finding Greg as soon as we walked In and hung out with him for awhile.
Bib pickup was easy and we were able to put on our shoe chip, bib and use the Porto in about 10 min, I headed to the corral at about 6:55 for a 7:00 AM start. It finally stopped raining but they kept saying they were going to start on time so I was doing quick stretches. Well of course they started about 8 minutes late so I could have went and did a proper warmup. Oh well.
There were wave starts but no one seems to know how the waves were done. There was 8 waves and I was in wave 2. There was both a 5k and 10k and they started at the same time with the majority of the course the same for the first 2.75 miles. When we started, we were going about an 11 min mile pace which was getting slower as there were puddles everywhere! I knew a PR would be hard so I decided to just take my time in the theme park and then open it up when we split from the 5k.
It was definitely an interesting first mile as there were roosters and chickens everywhere!! The puddles made it hard to maneuver especially when we headed up and down a few tunnels. Most of the time I was able to stay towards the side and do my intervals. Speaking of intervals, I didn't check it before I started so I had to adjust it at one point. I put it on 1:15 run/30 sec run.
The portion in the park was hard to get a rhythm going. It were lots of turns and sharp corners and puddles. I wasn't sure exactly where we were and there were people going all different speeds. On top of that, I was having my tight calf issue from not warming up so I was trying to work through that as well. I was just focusing on my form and trying to take the pressure off my shins.
I was hoping for some characters out but I didn't see any but other waves did-I'm sad I missed the photo opp as I love Charlie Brown!
We exited Knotts Berry Farm, got a nice tour of the parking lot before running through an empty Soak City water park and out on city streets. When we split off from the 5k, it completely opened up. I had it set in my mind to have a progression run and try to get faster with every mile. I was able to stick to my intervals and my calves finally felt better. I focused on different elements of my run and it did start to feel effortless.
(Just incase you know the area, we went down Stanton Ave towards Cresent Ave and turning on Dale Ave. We did an out and back and did another out and back on the entrance to the mall before retracing our steps)
One HUGE mistake was we passed the mile 4 marker and then did a turn and hit the mile 5 marker-what? We did an out n back right by the car and back around to the finish line. Well I figured out, the mile markers should have been switched. I think that is a huge issue. I knew because of my watch but if you didn't know, that could have been difficult thinking you had a bit over a mile when you had two miles.
On the 10k, we had 4 additional water stops. 1 as soon as we left the 5k, 1 by the turn around with the mile marker issue, and one on the out n back by the car which we passed twice.
As we continued, I kept getting boxed in by people so I had to work to keep my pace. I was really pushing the pace once we passed the correct 5 miles. I saw Greg and then Mallory. I pushed as hard as I could and started to get a cramp-but I was able to work through it. Something I worked on this last mile was speeding up my walk and it definitely made a difference.
As we turned the corner we were there, I realized I hit about an hour which isn't bad considering how slow I went in the first 3 miles.
FINAL TIME: 1:00:22
SPLIT TIMES: 10:53 (+25 sec to adjust my intervals)/10:42/10:26/9:28/9:37/8:56- can you tell where we split off from the 5k and were out of the theme park and puddles? haha
Another thing to mention was my fueling. I have been testing out using UCan and like it so far. This was my first time in a race and I took it about 45 min before we started (I think I need to take it closer to when we start but I had to do what I had to do!). I did not need any fuel at all during the race. It lasts for 45-70 min and it definitely did. I was never lacking fuel and got faster as I went on.
I got in the crazy line to get pie which was too sweet for me. I went and got some free goodies like Aldi snacks and Suju juice. I got my tshirt and waited for Mallory. We ended up going to Starbucks to get coffee and change, and went to Disneyland for a few hours which was super fun.
Overall, I had a fun race and definitely think I'm in shape for a PR. I think as I work on my running form and getting stronger, my running should keep improving. I have a half marathon this week with a bit of crazy elevation but I'll of course be trying for a PR.
I would be up for doing this race again especially if I could somehow figure out how to get into wave 1 or get into the corral sooner so the beginning wouldn't be so slow for me. Also, I am hoping they would not have an issue as big with incorrect mile markers. and hopefully it would not rain right before so puddles wouldnt be a problem.
Anyone else run a 10k lately? What's your next race?
The day before I did the Chi Running clinic and it was fabulous. I learned a lot about running form and decided to implement my top 3 issues: keeping my shoulders relaxed, facilitating a mid foot strike, swinging my arms equally and working on my lean to put less pressure on my calves. (more on this coming soon-I promise!)
The night before we(Me and Mallory of course #julesandmal) went to Devins wine and cheese party for a bit before coming home and have a carb heavy dinner and drinking a lot of water. We got to sleep around 9:45 for a 5am wake up. I woke up feeling fine but the rain was a bit loud. We got dressed and ready pretty quick and headed out around 5:30.
The weather was pouring on the drive down which means it took us longer to get there-around 6:15. We were able to park right across from the finish and walked over to the start line to get our bibs. We were I our rain coats and hoped the rain would stop. We ended up finding Greg as soon as we walked In and hung out with him for awhile.
Bib pickup was easy and we were able to put on our shoe chip, bib and use the Porto in about 10 min, I headed to the corral at about 6:55 for a 7:00 AM start. It finally stopped raining but they kept saying they were going to start on time so I was doing quick stretches. Well of course they started about 8 minutes late so I could have went and did a proper warmup. Oh well.
There were wave starts but no one seems to know how the waves were done. There was 8 waves and I was in wave 2. There was both a 5k and 10k and they started at the same time with the majority of the course the same for the first 2.75 miles. When we started, we were going about an 11 min mile pace which was getting slower as there were puddles everywhere! I knew a PR would be hard so I decided to just take my time in the theme park and then open it up when we split from the 5k.
It was definitely an interesting first mile as there were roosters and chickens everywhere!! The puddles made it hard to maneuver especially when we headed up and down a few tunnels. Most of the time I was able to stay towards the side and do my intervals. Speaking of intervals, I didn't check it before I started so I had to adjust it at one point. I put it on 1:15 run/30 sec run.
The portion in the park was hard to get a rhythm going. It were lots of turns and sharp corners and puddles. I wasn't sure exactly where we were and there were people going all different speeds. On top of that, I was having my tight calf issue from not warming up so I was trying to work through that as well. I was just focusing on my form and trying to take the pressure off my shins.
I was hoping for some characters out but I didn't see any but other waves did-I'm sad I missed the photo opp as I love Charlie Brown!
We exited Knotts Berry Farm, got a nice tour of the parking lot before running through an empty Soak City water park and out on city streets. When we split off from the 5k, it completely opened up. I had it set in my mind to have a progression run and try to get faster with every mile. I was able to stick to my intervals and my calves finally felt better. I focused on different elements of my run and it did start to feel effortless.
(Just incase you know the area, we went down Stanton Ave towards Cresent Ave and turning on Dale Ave. We did an out and back and did another out and back on the entrance to the mall before retracing our steps)
One HUGE mistake was we passed the mile 4 marker and then did a turn and hit the mile 5 marker-what? We did an out n back right by the car and back around to the finish line. Well I figured out, the mile markers should have been switched. I think that is a huge issue. I knew because of my watch but if you didn't know, that could have been difficult thinking you had a bit over a mile when you had two miles.
On the 10k, we had 4 additional water stops. 1 as soon as we left the 5k, 1 by the turn around with the mile marker issue, and one on the out n back by the car which we passed twice.
As we continued, I kept getting boxed in by people so I had to work to keep my pace. I was really pushing the pace once we passed the correct 5 miles. I saw Greg and then Mallory. I pushed as hard as I could and started to get a cramp-but I was able to work through it. Something I worked on this last mile was speeding up my walk and it definitely made a difference.
As we turned the corner we were there, I realized I hit about an hour which isn't bad considering how slow I went in the first 3 miles.
FINAL TIME: 1:00:22
SPLIT TIMES: 10:53 (+25 sec to adjust my intervals)/10:42/10:26/9:28/9:37/8:56- can you tell where we split off from the 5k and were out of the theme park and puddles? haha
Another thing to mention was my fueling. I have been testing out using UCan and like it so far. This was my first time in a race and I took it about 45 min before we started (I think I need to take it closer to when we start but I had to do what I had to do!). I did not need any fuel at all during the race. It lasts for 45-70 min and it definitely did. I was never lacking fuel and got faster as I went on.
I got in the crazy line to get pie which was too sweet for me. I went and got some free goodies like Aldi snacks and Suju juice. I got my tshirt and waited for Mallory. We ended up going to Starbucks to get coffee and change, and went to Disneyland for a few hours which was super fun.
Overall, I had a fun race and definitely think I'm in shape for a PR. I think as I work on my running form and getting stronger, my running should keep improving. I have a half marathon this week with a bit of crazy elevation but I'll of course be trying for a PR.
I would be up for doing this race again especially if I could somehow figure out how to get into wave 1 or get into the corral sooner so the beginning wouldn't be so slow for me. Also, I am hoping they would not have an issue as big with incorrect mile markers. and hopefully it would not rain right before so puddles wouldnt be a problem.
Anyone else run a 10k lately? What's your next race?
RSS Feed
