Celtic Classic 10K

Did you ever have one of the days where everything felt spot on?!? Well, I did, and I am so happy to share it with you.  On Saturday, I ran the 23rd Annual Celtic Classic 10K. I hadn't planned on running any 10Ks, but my best friend Liz asked me to run her first 10K with her, so how could I pass it up. The money all went to The Special Olympics, so again, there was no way that I could turn it down. I woke up Sat morning and knew that I was going to wear my Saucony's without my orthotic because they didn't really help my foot at all. Other than that, I had no idea what to expect for the course, but I did remember reading in one of the emails that there may be some mud, so I assumed there would be some grassy areas involved.  We arrived at the race a little before 7 am and there wasn't too many people there yet (they were expecting 641) so check in was easy peasy. At 7:45 I took 2 Aleve and hoped for the best.  After talking with some of the other runners, I learned that this course was definitely different than the year before, but no one really "knew" the course. All I knew was that somehow we ended up at Illick's Mill and that we ended where we started. The atmosphere was awesome, the energy from the Kilts was awesome!! At 8:08 I crossed the start line and we were off. We started on road, and then went onto a toe path. It was absolutely beautiful out, and the scenery was awesome.  Somehow we ended up at Illick's Mill, and that is where I got chatting with a fellow runner and mentioned how this was my first time running this and he was like well, "you picked a bad year to start with all the hills." Not once in the race did I feel like I was struggling. I was and am very appreciative now of all of the training runs I have been doing with Aardvark, since almost every run has hills. I felt really strong going up the hills, and although my pace slowed down for them, I didn't really feel that I struggled. I just kept telling myself that I was ready for this, and no matter what, I can do it.  At Illick's Mill we went up and around and down and up and around (really, I felt like we just kept running in a circle) and then we started the return back. It was a closed course, like VIA, but I ran the entire race without music and just lost myself in the atmosphere. I actually enjoyed running without music. I just ran based on how I felt.  I pushed myself but made sure I saved some for the end. I crossed the finish line in 1:06:53, a 2 minute PR for me. I am so happy to see all my hard work paying off.  Premedicating with Aleve allowed me to run pain free for the first 6 miles, now, to see what other anti-inflammatory I can take for another 6 miles? Anyway, if you ask me again, I just might run this race again.
The only dislike I had was the difficulty in finding the race start. Even though I put the GPS coordinates it was still difficult in finding it. But, we did, with plenty of time to spare, and had a great time! What a way to celebrate my training, and my friend's first 10K.
Hope you had a great weekend!