Rocky Mountain Soap Company 10k

This past Sunday I ran in the Rocky Mountain Soap Company 10k. There was a 5k & 10k event to raise money for Helping Hands - a local charity that helps women with Breast Cancer pay for prescriptions they do not have coverage for, getting them to & from treatments if they do not have a support network, assistance for purchasing wigs, prostheses etc. Registration was $50 with $10 going directly to Helping Hands and you were given $40 in Rocky Mtn Soap product in your race packet. It was a well organized event and they offered a healthy luncheon at the end with sandwiches, fruit, drinks and a chocolate fountain (ok, not so healthy but oh so delicious). The part I enjoyed the most (aside from the actual running) was the aromatherapy towel they gave you at the finish line. Very refreshing.

My run was awesome! I couldn't be happier with how things went for me considering where I am at in my rebuilding process. I walked to the park where the race was taking place - we live about a mile away and it was a nice way to start the day. Heading over there I got a little choked up because this time last year I was living some pretty dark days convinced I'd never run again with how bad my injury was, and here I was a year later, heading to a race. Heck, 4 months ago I was only able to run for 3 or 4mins at a time with 1 min walk breaks repeated 5 times.

I focused on warming up well and since I know I never feel completely warmed up until 25-ish minutes into a run, I paced myself nicely until then. After this point, I picked up the pace and felt strong throughout the remainder of the race. I also got a little choked up again around mile 4 as I was relishing in the sheer bliss of running a race again. So far in training I have been keeping my pace pretty consistent and have only been doing the odd fartlek to get my legs & pace going again. I was tempted to push the pace through the entire race to see what I was capable of, but seeing as I haven't done this in training, I didn't feel it was wise to test my shins on race day. So every 10 mins I picked up the pace for 2 mins just like I have been doing on my own, and held my steady pace a bit faster than I normally run at. I made a good decision and had a good race because of it. The weather also was kind to me... it was a cool morning and considering how hot this summer has been, I was delighted to wake up to such a cool morning.

The race's age groups were broader than they usually are and were in 10 year increments (was hoping to get one more race in the 30-34 AG but oh well). I placed 6/39 in the 30-39 and 25/103 overall. To be honest I was pretty shocked I came in 25th... I was certain I'd be at the back of the pack. In all fairness the event didn't have many of our local, crazy fast competitors, although the top finishers were pretty darn fast but I'm happy to have been running in a race nonetheless. And although I am nowhere near as fast as most of you (Dave-O et. al run twice as fast as me, haha), I finished in 58:51 and I feel good about that. I have never run a 10k on it's own before unless it was part of a triathlon, and my best 10k from a tri was 56:53 back in 1998 so I'm pretty happy with yesterday's time... not too shabby for 13 years later & just coming off the heels of an injury. Sometimes your personal best isn't a personal record, and Sunday was definitely a personal best for where I stand today.

Happy Running everyone!! We are so lucky to be runners!!

Great job on your time, Stephanie! That race sounds like fun, especially with getting something differnt in your goodie bag like soap. Nice. Aromatherapy towel at the end....double nice.

Great job on the race, Stephanie! You did a great job not getting carried away by the excietment of the race and ran a smart race.

Congrats, Stephanie on an excellent race. You look great in the photo.

Sounds like an awesome race ,glad to see you are on the road back to running.You are so right, every day we run , we are very lucky to be able to do that

Congrats. The most important thing is you were enjoying the experience and that's what it's all about.

Thanks for the report - I can think of times like you described getting
choked up myself - THAT is what it is all about. Great race and you are
so right, we are all very fortunate to be able to do what we all do. Congrats on your finish too! I remember reading that you were into triathlons some years ago - your PR triathlon 10K was fast too!

Thanks everyone! It means a lot to me to be able to share my race with you. Now on to bigger goals...

Great race! Great placing! Great picture!!!

Great to read about healthy, happy racing! The smile in the picture says it all.

Nice race; nice report!



Fantastic!