Wow! What a week — I think one of my fittest weeks in a long time.  I went to yoga with the babies twice, both of which were good workouts considering they were Mommy & Me classes.  I managed to run 4 times, including my 10 mile race on Sunday!

I ran The Perfect 10 Miler in West Windsor, NJ.  The race took place in Mercer County Park – which despite living near for almost 1.5 years, I’ve never been to.  Boy was I missing out! It’s a beautiful park with tons of running paths, playing fields, a lake, and more.  I really enjoyed getting to explore the grounds via the race course.

The race was a positive experience overall.  There were a few things that caused me to raise eyebrows — like how the majority of the race volunteers/staffers weren’t able to answer questions, and instead just directed me to the race organizer – a woman who was extremely busy answering 1000 questions at once.  Or how the race started 10 minutes late which meant we all had to stand around in the brisk temperature waiting for the race to start.  BUT other than that I loved it.

The race is all women, so there was so much encouragement and empowerment.  I loved seeing all the female friends, sisters, moms/daughters combos running together.  As mentioned earlier, the course was great – wove through the park and the local community college campus.  Since The Perfect 10 Miler was a smaller race (about 1800 runners), it didn’t feel crowded beyond the first 1/4 mile or so.

The race shirt is one of my favorites that I’ve ever gotten for a race – a long sleeve tech tee which fits well and has a cool design that I’ll actually wear again.  AND (this is huge on my list) the athlete food bag was actually filled with things I’d eat: soft pretzel, yogurt & granola, apple slices, Boar’s Head mini sandwich, Tasty Kake (I’d never eat this – seriously does anyone ever eat these!? Why are they in every race food bag?), and a bottle of water.

The best part?  I felt GREAT! I paced myself well, started slower – around 10:25 min/mile and as the miles ticked by I let myself speed up.  I finished in 01:43:16 – right around a 10:19 min/mile.  And to be honest, I felt like I could have gone longer…. which means I’m already itching for another race where I can push myself harder! What should it be?!

Recap – Week of 10/17:

10/18: 2 Miles

10/19: Mommy & Me Yoga

10/20: 3 miles

10/21: Mommy & Me Yoga

10/22: 2 miles

10/23: 10 miles @ The Perfect 10 Miler in New Jersey!