It definitely happened at the zoo

Today I ran a 10K at the LV Zoo. This weekend was my planned 6 mile run, I just changed up the day of the week. Anyway, with knowing that today was coming, Sat was an earned day off. So, before I went to bed, I went through my ritual of laying out what I was going to wear the next day.

This morning, I woke up at 530, and felt not well rested. I knew it was going to be a long day, but I also knew I was ready for it. I have already completed a half marathon, what's 6.2 miles. Well, let me tell you something about this race. I really felt like it was really well organized and there was an awesome crowd. The course marshalls were awesome with directing the 5Ks and the 10Ks onto the right path. Now...I know I do steps, but apparently I need to do some hill work. Especially with the half marathon coming up, I really need to step the hills up a notch. We entered our first major hill at mile 2, and we hit the peak at mile 3. Down the hill we went and then we hit another hill at mile 3.5 and that went on until mile 4. I would also like to point out, that I am not really sure if anyone ran up that first hill. It was NEVER ENDING!! Anyway, I went into the race hoping to do it in 1 hr and 6 minutes, and even with the hills, I managed to do 1 hr 10 minutes (unofficially). My favorite part of the race, getting to Ford the Creek by foot. That was at like mile 5. At that point, I met up with a boyfriend and girlfriend pair who had a great pace. I was trying to make up time but I was way too spent from the hills. (I really respect my friends who did Quadzilla and if anyone wants to drag me along to run hills, please take me) Anyway, I stayed with their pace and even encouraged the girlfriend on to keep going strong. We hit mile 5.5 and the boyfriend and I started to pull a little bit away. I kept trying to encourage the girlfriend on, but at this point my legs felt great although tired. At mile 6 we entered the zoo and were teased by all of the finish line stuff. We still had to run around the zoo in order to cross the finish line. The boyfriend was a little bit ahead of me and he signaled that the finish line was in view. I cranked it on and finished hard and even ended up passing him when it really matter most. I wish I would have turned it on a little sooner, but now I know how great my legs can feel! At the end of the race, I ran into a girl named Rachel (I really hope that is her name) I had met her the week before at one of the Breakfast Club Runners trails and it was nice seeing her again. She asked me if I heard her husband as I was finishing to which I said no. She said he was shouting that he knew me. Me? Really? Wow? Thanks.

After the race, we were able to enjoy the zoo before it opened. We had taken M earlier in the year and she just wasn't really into it. Well, that all changed this time...

To us, this is a Zebra to M it was a neigh neigh (horse)

 She loved this owl. She was able to say owl, and she kept talking to it and talking to it and talking to it.

 Here, she is pretending to be an otter...I promise, she is enjoying this, she is saying "cheese"

 Here, she is being a Penguin, although she was really trying to find them...

We think this Ostrich was trying to peck his way out of the cage, but no worries, he didn't get very far.

While I wasn't happy with my time, I was happy that I was able to run pain-free and to help me know that the steps are paying off, but that I need to incorporate hills into my training. I am hoping that my bike is up and running soon, so that I can also add that to my training schedule. Will I run this race again, quite possibly, but I will make sure that I am more prepared for all of those hills!

Hope you had a great Sunday!