therunnerwithin

I am proud to say that I am now a veteran 10k runner. For my first ever 10k run I participated in the 10th annual Walgreens St. Pete Beach Classic.

It was a cool, crisp morning with a temperature of 52 degree and windy conditions. I layered up with sweats over my running attire, which consisted of running tights,colored  running shorts (to help me stand out in the crowd of course), and a long sleeve shirt. The layers were peeled off minutes before the start of the race.

The race was set to kick off at 7:15 but was delayed for by a half hour due to an accident involving the city bus and a St. Pete Police officer directing traffic off the course. I am happy to report that the officer is alright and was treated for non-life threatening injuries.

As the race kicked off, I eased into mile 1 trying to get my body warm. The course took us north on Gulf Blvd and thankfully the sun rise happened minutes before and assisted in warming up on my backside.

Upon passing the mile 1 marker my watched notified me of a pace time of 9:50, my fastest mile ever. The wind continued to picked up as I transitioned into mile 2 and my legs put up quite a fight. The course turn around was around mile 2.5 were we proceeded to head south back towards the start/finish line. This took us along the inner coast and along the shore line for most of the race. By this point the sun was up and shining, and I was in desperate need of sunglasses or a visor (my next investment.) Mile 6 was a teaser as we had to pass the finish line and turn back around in order to meet the USATF course certification, but this only encouraged me to push through to the end.

Overall, I was very satisfied with this race, beating out my anticipated time for the run. I PR’d on my fastest mile (9:51) and my fastest 5k (32.13). I’m excited to see what my time will be on my next 10k and if I can PR on my fastest 10k.