Rock ‘n’ Roll 10K Race Recap: I Found My Inner Runner at Mile 5

Feeling accomplished (and much, much warmer) after the race!

This past weekend the FBGs (Jenn, Erin, Tish and Kristen) ran the Rock ‘n’ Roll 10k in Brooklyn courtesy of Brooks Running. This week, each FBG is sharing how her thoughts on how the race went by answering the three same questions. The difference of answers should be, well, interesting!

This weekend was a load of so much fit fun. So much. Jenn got in for our FBG Retreat and 10K Weekend (not the official name) on Wednesday, and we chatted and giggled and hit up Trader Joe’s in preparation for Tish and Kristen’s arrival at my Casa de Crazy. We had big salads, big glasses of wine and big laughs.

We got up hours before what I consider to be the crack of dawn to head into Brooklyn for the race on Saturday. We saw a crescent moon against the Verrazano Bridge. Did an Austin Powers-style parking job. Froze our fit tushes off in the chill before the race start. And I almost forgot: Ran 6.2 miles.

How the Rock ‘n’ Roll 10K in Brooklyn Went (for Me)

1. What was your favorite moment of the race? I’m totally going to cheat and name a few. 1) It was so fun to take off with the group of girls at the start of the race. We were all so excited and ready to get moving. Plus, I had stepped in a bit of dog poop (lucky me!), so it was nice to be able to run away from the smell. 2) I really, really enjoyed the moment when I warmed up enough to take off my hoodie and my gloves. 3) I noticed mile marker one, but then ran a blissful few miles without even thinking about the distance. When I hit mile 5 and realized I still felt awesome and had some gas left in my tank, I kicked it up a few notches. It was an awesome feeling to still be feeling great at that point in the race and push it hard at the end. 4) Hearing my name announced as I approached the finish line—and having the energy to raise the roof in response—was definitely memorable.

2. Did you reach your goal? As far as I’m concerned, yes! I made it through training and the race itself without injuries, which was the most important one for me. I also didn’t want to walk, and two 15-second breaks aren’t really getting me down. And the fact that I finished four minutes away from my goal of 62 minutes? I’m pretty darn proud!

3. Pick one word to describe the race. Blast. Blasts of cold air, what felt like a blastoff at mile five. Running with friends in a beautiful NYC park on a sunny day is exponentially more fun than running solo on a treadmill. A total blast.

Shockingly, even though I’d never in my life run farther than 4 miles, I wasn’t too sore afterwards. In fact, I was much more sore after the recent mud run than the 10K. And as I mentioned in my recap over on Fit Bottomed Mamas, I’m already scoping out my next race. I’m still not going to admit to being hooked on running, but I am hooked on events. And while I still say heck to the no about running a marathon, I’m kicking around more of the 10K distance or maybe, maybe a half marathon. Who knows.

Were you there on Saturday? Did you have a blast, too? —Erin