Tarantula 10k Recap

This morning I ran another 10k trail race hosted by Brazen. I didn't feel like I was well fueled (damn you Friday wine tasting and not stellar food choices) and I woke up with an icky belly (thanks dried mangoes). I woke up around 530, got dressed, got my gear together, ate some yams with almond butter and drank a small glass of OJ, got the kid and hubby up, used the bathroom 27 times and we were off.

The race was located at Los Vaqueros Reservoir. Didn't take long to get there and in true Brazen fashion parking, bib pickup and the whole shebang was like a well oiled machine. The kiddo was doing a 100 yard dash called the Spider Scramble. He started at 7:35 am and ran his little butt off. He came in 4th overall and was tickled to get his own finisher medal. I think that boy of mine might be ready for a 5k again soon...a fast paced one. ;) 

Ran into my fellow running club buddy RC. He was doing the half which had some MEAN elevation. He was doubting his ability to do well too. Funny how we do that to ourselves. We watched the half folks take off and cheered them on their way. Then it was the 10k race time.

My group started at 815 am and was right on time. I got in the front of the line as usual and put my music on. I opted not to wear my heart rate monitor nor did I turn on my Strava running app. I just wanted to run with no pressure again. We started off and I have to be honest here, I struggled the ENTIRE 6.29 of this race. My legs were sore and my body was exhausted. I fought with the desire to walk more than I care to admit. 

Lots of men flew past. One female took the lead pretty quickly. She was 16 years old I think? Ahhh youth. Another female passed me but she burned herself out pretty quickly. I caught up on a hill and kept on going. We had several decent hills. NOTHING like my Drag-N-Fly race but today they felt even tougher. I walked a little but tried to run as much as I could even when I felt like I was running with stones tied to my feet! The total elevation for this race was 694.

I hit aid station 2 and saw my fellow running/workout enthusiast EB. Her smile and cheering me on helped perk me up when I was already flagging. I looked back a few times during the race and saw that one other lady wasn't too far behind me. The competitive side said "You'd better move your ass a little faster!" So I tried to.

I was so damn happy to see that finish line! Seriously. My official time was 58:19. I came in 20th out of all the runners (man, fast people), 1st in my age group and 2nd female overall. I was excited to get another age group medal AND I got a certificate for some free socks at the local running store. Whooo! I had a few other runner's club peeps running the various distances and I think we all placed. Way to represent y'all! 

Pros--
Well organized
Fun snacks
Free kids' run
Finisher medals
Age group medals
Top 3 finisher certificates
$5 tshirts from other Brazen races
Lots of bathrooms


Cons--
Not many GF options on the snack table besides fruit and chips (again, that's always the case though)