Heart of a Single Mom: Tour des Fleurs 10k Race Recap

Today was my 3rd 10k since I started running this past January. I was really looking forward to today's race. My last race was at the end of May. Sometime during this past week I found out that there were some hills on this race course, one of them being a BIG hill. I was a little disappointed. I had a really good run on Tuesday and I was hoping to PR this race today.

One of my favorite part of races has been meeting up with my running friends before and after. The running community is a great community. They are very encouraging.

Two of my Disney Runner friends, Kelly & Allison

I started out super strong, maybe even too strong. The Tour des Fleurs is a pretty race course around White Rock Lake near the Dallas Arboretum. The weather wasn't too bad at the start, although it was humid. By the end of the race it was a "feels like 96 degrees" temperature. I thought that I was killing it during the race. My race apps kept telling me that my pace was anywhere between 10:05-10:25 per mile. I also think that weaving in and out of people threw off my apps. By the end of the race, my apps told me that I had run 7 miles.

The hills were in the middle of the course. They were KILLERS!! The last mile was super hard too. It was so hot and I ended up walking more of it then I normally do. Right now, I'm really struggling with being mad at myself for my time. It was not one of my better runs. I'm frustrated because I have been training so hard. I know that we all don't always have great runs. This is my first race where my time didn't improve. It's making me a little nervous for my half next week. I was hoping to have a good run today so that I could use that time to submit to Disney for the Princess Half Marathon in February. If I was able to do that, I could just focus on enjoying my first half. Now it looks like I am going to have to focus on enjoying and getting a good race time.

I also think that I should have stuck to eating my Honey Stinger Waffle for breakfast instead of Sprouted Toast with Peanut Butter and drinking a little coffee and more water. I drank a whole cup of coffee and not any water before the race. Even though I ate at 5:30 am and didn't run until 7:40, I had stitches in my sides the entire race. That might have affected my race time too. At the very end of the race I also had to sit because I was feeling a little light headed. I definitely didn't have enough water.

Overall, it was a good race. It was just one of my tougher runs. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? My brother even said that hills make you strong. He's right. I believe that this race also prepped me for my 5k and Half Marathon next week. The bling at the end of the race was pretty cool too!! After the race, Allison and I took a tour around to the different booths. Free food? Yes please!

1 race down and 8 more to go this fall. I hope that you'll follow along on my journey. I also experimented with my first vlog from the Tour des Fleur. I know, I know...you are thinking, "Ann you're going to start vlogging now?" Yes, yes I am. It's from watching other runners vlogs that I feel like I am more prepared for Disney races and races in general. If I can encourage or help others, then I will jump on the vlog bandwagon. See you after the next race!