My first 10k was AMAZING!!!
I had sooo much fun running with a group of friends/professors. 
I almost miss it!!! 
Let me tell you how funny was. I set the alarm to 4.20AM so I have an hour to wake up and eat something before driving to the race place with my friends. But the alarm didn’t ring and I woke up by accident at 5:12 AM. Wooooo!!!! How lucky I was! 
Anyway, we drove an hour to Leesburg , picked the package and ready to race have fun 
me and my friend Belen (her first 10 k too)
the place is Market Station, pretty old fashion downtown. The race started at 7:30 AM, but by 6:45 AM most of the participants were ready
I wanted to start slow (around 8.30min/mile) but the peer pressure forced me to go faster. I finally realized how hard is to slow down in a race. Looking at others passing you isn’t fun! 
Although rationally I know that I should not compare with others and the best strategy for me is to keep a constant pace for me and not follow others. But it’s HARD, really HARD! The peer pressure is hard to resist. I need to work on that. This time was 10k and somehow I managed to finish the race a little under 8 min/mile according to Nike+, but if I run longer races (half marathon maybe?), I need to work hard to start slow. There’s no way I can finish half marathon at <8min/mile.
I didn’t push myself to my maximum but that is okay. I wanted to enjoy the race, not to feel exhausted afterwards and not want to race ever again.
Post race (I didn’t look like a red tomato. Actually you can’t tell that I just finished a 10k, right? I guess that means I didn’t try hard enough)
Belen did great! She “beats” me for 50 secs! This girl has talent!
we had to wait for our friends who run the 20k, so we I grabbed all the free snacks they offered
Result: My official time was 52:24, 13/51 in my age group and 58/299 overall. I guess not bad for a debut
Before the race I told myself that if I like this one, I’ll sign up for a Half Marathon. So yes, I’m doing it, I’m doing the Park Half Marathon in september 12th ( Beth and Joelle are also running it). I’m so excited!!!
Q: If you’re a runner, how do you deal with peer pressure in a race? If you’re not a runner, how do you deal with peer pressure in general?
My first 10k was AMAZING!!!
I had sooo much fun running with a group of friends/professors.
I almost miss it!!! 
Let me tell you how funny was. I set the alarm to 4.20AM so I have an hour to wake up and eat something before driving to the race place with my friends. But the alarm didn’t ring 
and I woke up by accident at 5:12 AM. Wooooo!!!! How lucky I was! 
Anyway, we drove an hour to Leesburg , picked the package and ready to race have fun
me and my friend Belen (her first 10 k too)
the place is Market Station, pretty old fashion downtown. The race started at 7:30 AM, but by 6:45 AM most of the participants were ready
I wanted to start slow (around 8.30min/mile) but the peer pressure forced me to go faster. I finally realized how hard is to slow down in a race. Looking at others passing you isn’t fun!
Although rationally I know that I should not compare with others and the best strategy for me is to keep a constant pace for me and not follow others. But it’s HARD, really HARD! The peer pressure is hard to resist. I need to work on that. This time was 10k and somehow I managed to finish the race a little under 8 min/mile according to Nike+, but if I run longer races (half marathon maybe?), I need to work hard to start slow. There’s no way I can finish half marathon at <8min/mile.
I didn’t push myself to my maximum but that is okay. I wanted to enjoy the race, not to feel exhausted afterwards and not want to race ever again.
Post race (I didn’t look like a red tomato. Actually you can’t tell that I just finished a 10k, right? I guess that means I didn’t try hard enough)
Belen did great! She “beats” me for 50 secs! This girl has talent!
we had to wait for our friends who run the 20k, so we I grabbed all the free snacks they offered
Result: My official time was 52:24, 13/51 in my age group and 58/299 overall. I guess not bad for a debut
Before the race I told myself that if I like this one, I’ll sign up for a Half Marathon. So yes, I’m doing it, I’m doing the Park Half Marathon in september 12th ( Beth and Joelle are also running it). I’m so excited!!!
Q: If you’re a runner, how do you deal with peer pressure in a race? If you’re not a runner, how do you deal with peer pressure in general?