Newport 10 Miler Race Review

Last weekend I packed up the car with the ladies and I headed to my hometown to run

I found out about this race from Amy from Running Escapades and I am so glad that I decided to sign up!  The race was to benefit the Fort which is rich in history.  I have to admit that before this race I had never actually been inside (local hangs head in shame)!  To my defense, I used to go there a lot growing up but the inside of the fort has only been open recently.

We headed down the day before and my BRF Jill ventured down to stay at my parents house!  We went into town to grab our numbers and do a little Alex and Ani shopping (the store in Newport is HUGE)....and we may have just stopped for a drink with my sister Amy!  The weather was gorgeous and it was so great to be in town just having fun!

 The day of the race my awesome parents watched the ladies while I took off early since the start was at 8 (well 8:15 we found out later while standing in the starting corral).  I was laughing with Jill on the way there about how times have changed.  Before babies, I would have everything all laid out and would have my pre-race routine down to a science.  Before this race, I tiptoed around the room looking for things and grabbed breakfast to nibble in the car there!  We got to the Fort around 7 and made the mile walk to the starting area to meet up with some of my Fitfluential girls!

Amy, me, Jill, Michelle (missing Samantha)

These ladies are amazing!

After the National Anthem and a moment of silence for those effected by the Boston Marathon, we were off!  Down the drive of the Fort and headed out for a spin around the Ocean Drive.  I tried to take pictures of the scenery while I was running but after looking over them I realized that I did not do it justice.  Just picture miles and miles of shoreline and MASSIVE houses!

It has been a while since I have been able to say that miles just flew by but honestly they did with this race!  I'm not sure if it was the scenery...being "home"....being a running tour guide for Jill...or that I was just relaxed and having fun but I would honestly say the first 6 miles flew by!  Jill was keeping our pace and we settled quickly around 9:20.  By mile 6 we turned the corner onto Bellevue Ave and the sea breeze calmed which made this runner mother HOT!  I was so thankful to see my sister and Em so I could dump my jacket!  Em came equipped with a whistle which I'm sure all the people living in their mansions on Bellevue were psyched to hear at 8am!

We turned off Bellevue and headed back to the Fort for the last 3 miles...of which Jill promptly left me in the dust (after 4 years of running together I knew this was coming!) and I promptly struggled through the rolling hills.  I made a vow to myself that I was going to either move to Kansas so I can run on flat land or I was going to get over this "I hate hills" mindset!  I made it back to the Fort and the finish line took us back into the Fort to where we finished there.  It was a little frustrating because I couldn't see the finish line so it was hard for me to know when to kick but it was definitely cool to go through the big gates and into the middle!  Finish time was 1:37:XX and I am happy with that.  I know I need to work on the later miles of my runs and pushing through mentally...I get tired!

The date is already set for April 27th for next year's Newport 10 Miler and I am telling all of you....DO IT!!!  It's a gorgeous race!!!