This is my second year to do the Toughest 10K-Kemah and also my second 10K ever (read last years recap here). The Toughest 10K Kemah is put on by Running Alliance Sports that also does the Texas Bridge Series (which I am doing!).
I spoke with my friend Debra about running the 10K and she said that 10K’s hurt because of the speed. I asked her to explain and she said that 5K’s hurt the worst, then 10K’s, then ½’s, then full marathons. She said you should push your pace to get done faster. I said I only have one speed-slow. I wasn’t aware that you were supposed to have different paces for different lengths of a race. Haha. Oh well.
This race is one part of a three part race in the Texas Bridge Series. First you run Kemah (10K), then Galveston (10K), then you run LaPorte by the Bay Half Marathon, and once you complete all three you get a fourth medal. I <3 race bling!
My Uncle Roger and my Aunt Laura are running all three races with me and I am super excited!
I woke up at my usual time at 5:15 am via a bratty cat that wanted to be fed and I was out the door by 5:30 am to head to Pearland to meet up with my aunt and uncle. I got to their house around 6:20 am and while I was driving I noticed all the changes in my old part of town (they lived 5 minutes from me). A lot has changed in the 7 months since I have moved. I got to their house and I picked up my race packet that had a maroon technical shirt race tee and a hat. It was supposed to have some coupon for the Kemah Boardwalk and the Galveston Pleasure Peir, but it didn’t. :/ Oh well. We left their house in Pearland to drive to Kemah and looked for a parking spot. The race director had emailed us and let us know that they expected to have a record turnout this year (1,575 people) and to get their early to find parking. Did we? Nope! Haha. We made it to the starting line about 7:25 and I really had to go to the bathroom, but I knew that if I tried to make it to the porta pottys I would never get to the race on time. I held it. (Sorry, TMI).
The race director started the race on time, but I was so far back (so many people) I didn’t cross until about 3 minutes after the timer went off. For the first mile or so I was going weaving around people (some people were walking in the first mile) then I settled in a steady pace. When I hit the bridge I cringed for a second, then I started climbing up it, slowly but surely. As I was coming down the first pass I looked over and saw all the people on the other side already and thought ‘I have three more of these bridges to go.’ Woe is me at this point, but then I got my head in the game and trudged ahead. Also, as I was towards the top of the first bridge I saw really fast people run by me and I figured out they were almost done! I hate fast people. Haha. I stopped at the water station under the bridge and drank a Gatorade and hit the overpass again. I also took a gummy block for extra energy at this point (throughout the entire race I ate a half a package).
The next three bridge passes went by fairly quickly. I kept looking for my aunt and uncle and I saw them behind me on the other side of the bridge. I REALLY had to pee but I kept telling myself that if I stopped my time would be off and I wanted to run this one as a PR. I only ran at the water stops so I wouldn’t get sick while I garbled down Gatorade and water. I finished the course around 1:18 on the clock, but I knew that I didn’t start until 2 or 3 minutes later. I knew I had PR’d but I would have to wait for my official time to be put up for my exact PR.
My official time was 1:15.22 beating my previous time by just shy of 7 minutes!!!! This 10K is the only 10K that I have ever ran, and it happens to be on a very hilly/bridgey course so I am not sure what my actual time would be if it were a flat course without 10 million 4 bridge passes.
The bling for this race is awesome!! It has glitter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, glitter you are the best.
See ya at the next race.
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