Nike Women's Marathon 10K

Happy Saturday! I hope yours is shaping up to be a great one. Mine started off on the best note - with a 10K run! This was no ordinary 10K, as every other 10K I have run takes place in a physical location - Memorial Park, downtown Austin, etc. This 10K, however, takes place wherever you are, anywhere in the world. All you had to do was sign up with Nike+, complete your 10K run anytime between Saturday, March 9th, and Sunday, March 10th, and sync your run by Sunday, March 17th. 

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This was my first virtual race, and I really like the idea of them, though I will say that physical races are great for motivating me to actually get up and run. Otherwise, I have the tendency to push my run back to later and later in the day. On the other side of that, though, I really appreciated not having to get up at 6:00am, or earlier, like I usually do for physical races.

Some might question why I paid $40 to run 6.2 miles on my own, but $10 from each registration is being donated to the Leukemia & Lymphoma (LLS) Society. I really like it when races have a cause, because it is a simple reminder that running is not something to take for granted, and part of my race entry fee goes toward helping someone have the opportunity to run again. I am also hoping to participate in another Nike Women's Marathon race later this year, so I figured it would be good to get my name in the system!

The Race

Now, onto the run itself. I fell asleep around 9:30 last night (I think those late nights are finally starting to catch up with me), so I had no problem naturally waking up around 6:20am. I ate my last two banana-oatmeal-almond butter bars, a handful of grapes, powered up my Garmin, and headed out for a 6.2 mile run around my neighborhood. I'm not sure I have ever run 6.2 miles around my neighborhood, so I knew this was going to take a little bit of creativity on my part. I weaved my way in and out of streets, doubled back a couple of times, covering the same path twice, and just kept running until my Nike+ app told me I had completed 6.2 miles. My Garmin recorded 6.27 miles, so I guess I didn't quite sync the starts right, but a little bit of extra running never hurt anyone!

The temperature was great - a cool 64 degrees - but the humidity was in full force this morning. My legs were dragging after three miles, but I think that might have had something to do with the fact that I did not drink nearly enough water yesterday. It definitely wasn't my fastest 10K, which I think can be attributed to the fact that being in a race environment helps inspire you to run faster. There's always that one person that you want to beat! Or that could just be me, but I am a pretty competitive person!

Breakfast

After a shower and a battle with our spotty wi-fi (that I lost, so I am currently sitting at Starbucks as I write this post), I threw together a fruit bowl that consisted of strawberries and grapes. 

The strawberries absolutely stole the show, and I am officially ready for another busy day of running errands. I am meeting a friend for lunch at Ruggles Green, so you know that I'm excited for that! Enjoy the rest of your morning!