Running – My First 10k Race

I don’t know if you all remember me saying that I was going to be running a 10km run this year. In a blog I mentioned signing up for the Manitoba Marathon’s 10k run. Well, I did it. On June 18, 2023 I ran my first 10k race and this is how it all happened, and the end result.

Training

So, I will be the first to admit, I didn’t take my training seriously. Did I go running before the day of the race? Yes, I did. However, I didn’t get my training past a 5k, and I did not run nearly enough. I remember this one week I looked at the calendar and nearly panicked when I saw how close the run was. The whole time I had factored in an extra week somehow. So, I pushed myself, and got hurt. My ankle swelled up and my entire lower leg constantly felt tight. This happened a week before the race.

How I got hurt

Now, I don’t know exactly what I did. It was a Friday night when I noticed this and decided to take a few days to relax and see what happened. During this time I stretched, sat in a hot tub, and tried to sleep with it elevated on a pillow. It became quite clear to me what had gone wrong. I didn’t stretch properly. Before my running I would do a quick, but pathetic excuse for a stretch. After my run I would get in my car, drive home, shower and after finding something to eat, I would sit and watch YouTube videos for hours. My poor muscles finally had had enough and rebelled.

To Run or Not to Run

I had a decision to make. Would I still run in the race? I had paid to be in this race and there were no refunds. After giving my ankle time to rest, as much as I could, I decided to do a test run on the Tuesday before race day. I got to my usual spot, stretched, then started running. At first the ankle was not happy, but after a minute or two it felt like it had loosened up and I was able to run 35 minutes. I headed home and as soon as I got out of the vehicle, I felt the pain. After getting inside, I did a 7 minute post run yoga video, took a shower, and then settled in bed with my ankle on a pillow. What was I going to do? I made the decision then. I was going to run this 10k, I just would have to drop my goal and pay attention to my ankle. If I needed to walk most of it, I would walk.

Preparing for the Race

So, I was determined to give my ankle as much TLC as it needed before Sunday. I rested it as much as possible, took an epsom salt bath, and aimed to do yoga every day before the race. I’ll admit, I did miss a few days still. I also wore an ankle brace at work for some extra support. I made sure I had my workout fuel and hydration from Arbonne packed for the day of the race. The day before the race I went to pick up my stuff, fought off the growing nerves, and headed to bed early. Of course, falling asleep was a bit harder. Then, it was race day.

Race Day

The morning of the race I had to wake up really early. I got dressed, had a quick breakfast, picked up my friend who was coming for moral support, and we headed to the city, stopping to get her a coffee. We arrived at our location around 6:30am. I stretched, went to the bathroom, stretched some more, drank my workout fuel and tried to warm up my legs. There were so many other runners going through routines that they must have done many times before. It made me nervous. What was I doing here among all these fit people? Then it was 7:15 and we were ready to go. I turned on my playlist and we were off.

My Run

Like my test run, my ankle was a bit irritated as I started running, but loosened up and was fine for the remainder of the run. As I expected, the first 5 kilometres were not too bad. I have run that distance many times over the past few years. This was not new to my body, which had run 5 kilometres many times while I trained. As I was running past the 6 kilometre mark I realised 2 things. I really should have trained more, and I had to pee again. I knew there were outhouses along the trail, but I also knew I had passed one a while back. Praying for another one as I ran through a beautiful park, I was rewarded. However, there was a line. I joined the line, upset that this was going to ruin my time.

After using the outhouse I tried to get back into a regular pace like before. However, my legs would not cooperate and I was forced to take many walking breaks. At least till I hit the last leg. I knew I was almost done and pushed my exhausted legs to run, even picking up the pace a bit. As we entered the IG field, home of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, I felt proud of myself. I passed that finish line and accepted my medal knowing that I had done the best I could that day.

Post Race

I remembered that an email I had gotten had said that I should make sure I keep moving around after running a long distance to prevent passing out. I walked around the field, answered a phone call, which was my friend who came to support me. We marked a meeting place and hung up. I went to the top of the stadium (yes, they made us climb stairs after a long run) and grabbed some of the free snacks they had for us before meeting up with my friend. With sweat in my eyes, blisters on my feet, and an ankle that was reminding me that it was not happy, we left and headed home, after grabbing a quick breakfast at McDonald’s. I know, not the best, but I didn’t care. And for those of you who are wondering, my time was 1:29:37. Not bad for my first time.

Overall Thoughts

Would I do this again? Yes, yes I would. Not this year though. My ankle is still not 100%. I have started doing yoga daily, and using my foam roller when I don’t have time for yoga. This has helped a lot. I no longer feel the need to wear my brace, or keep it elevated all the time. I would love to do this same race again next year, but I will make sure that I am taking a lot more care to stretch to prevent injury. If my ankle still irritates me after my two week holiday at the beginning of July, I’ll make an appointment with my chiropractor and see if he can help me out. I will also be a lot more mindful of what I’m putting into my body. My diet was not the greatest. I could have fuelled it a lot more and with a lot more nutritious foods. I even found a runner’s meal plan, which I promptly forgot about after printing it.

I’m glad that I did this, and I actually can’t wait to run it again next year and see if I can beat my time. With all of you cheering me on, I don’t see how I couldn’t. If there is something that you’ve always wanted to try, but are too scared to, I challenge you to try. After all, anything can happen, if you try.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhLbp8ibmEE&t=3s