Navy 10 NM Recap and the Taper for the Dragonfly Tri

It's weird to think that I'm wrapping up racing season and it's only mid-June! Last year I raced May-September and then prepared for the Half Marathon in December (that never happened) with a 10 miler in November. After the Dragonfly Tri on Saturday, I won't have another race until the 10 miler in November!

Yesterday I ran the Navy 10 nautical miler, which is actually about 11.6 road miles. My longest run up until yesterday had only been 6.5 miles so I was a little nervous to add 5 miles to that. But I had to do this race. I wanted to do it last year but it was cancelled. The race fell on the day after the 4th year after my grandpa's death. He was a WWII Navy veteran and I wanted to do this in memory and honor of him.

The race started at 6 am!!! I had to wake up at 4:15!!! I am not a morning person!!! If that doesn't prove my love of running and racing I don't know what will!
Jess and I drove together to the Navy base dark and early. I think this is the first race I didn't have pre-race butterflies. I was strangely at peace, even though I had no idea what to expect as far as how I'd feel, what my finish time would be, or if I was making a mistake and would wind up injured. Those things crossed my mind, but they didn't stick around. I was just really happy to be out there running for my grandpa, and thankful to God for my ability to do this. I've been training a lot and running more frequently than I've ever done before, and I feel strong and healthy. He's brought me from injured to able and I'm so thankful for this.

We got really cool anchor finishing medals!

It was a crowded race, but it didn't feel like it. I fell into an easy pace for the first mile or so to warm up and didn't waste energy trying to get around people. Each mile was progressively faster and I felt really good. Around NM 4.5 I caught up to Don, who I met at a local running group last year, and we ended up running the rest of the race together. I told him my goal was to finish in under 2 hours, so I kept pushing the pace a bit and I think I was dragging him along a little. To be fair, we took a couple walk breaks when he needed them, but not until NM 7 and 9 (I think?). My finish time was 1:57:59!

Me, Jess, and Steph
Those girls killed it! So proud of them.

I'm really proud of myself for this one. To add on 5 miles to my longest run and nearly run the entire thing (the walk breaks were short) is huge for me. I just think back to when walking to the mailbox was a challenge. To go from walking to the mailbox to running 10 NM? Seriously? God is good.

I miss my grandparents and I'm glad I could do this.

I'm surprisingly not too sore today. I really only feel it in my quads. I'll be taking it fairly easy this week since it's a taper week for Dragonfly on Saturday! Today is just a swim day so my quads will get a day off.
It's supposed to rain and thunderstorm all the way until Saturday. I'm mentally preparing for another muddy triathlon. At least this time it should be warmer than the Oly a few weeks ago! I can handle the mud and rain. It ends with a 4 mile trail run, so I'm picturing slip-and-slide mud running. It'll be fun!