Franklin Classic 10K Race Recap

I decided to participate in the Franklin Classic 10K this year and I was excited that Josh wanted to do it as well! The race is always on Labor Day and has live music, a Fun Zone and a bunch of different vendors. The race begins and ends on Public Square in Historic Downtown Franklin, TN and includes a 5K, 10K (or both for a 15K) and a 1K kids run. It is also pretty much guaranteed that there will be a ton of people and it is going to be HOT.

Leading up to this race I hadn't been doing a ton of training. I switched to running 3 days a week after the Hot Chocolate 15K with two days of strength training and/or yoga. My running days consisted of: a 5 mile trail run, a faster road run of some sort and a longer-ish run (up to 8 miles). I wasn't training specifically for any race, it was just the types of runs I enjoyed doing which kept me in decent running shape. This was especially important during the summer when I don't super love running in the intense heat. Something else I did different before this race was relax a bit and not take it so seriously which I tend to do. Again, I think like last time though - having Josh with me just makes me feel better about it all and it is cool knowing he is there running too! We even went out to a baseball game the night before and instead of my normal chicken, potatoes and green beans for dinner before a race - I had the delicious smoked chicken tot-chos (but with sweet potato fries) from the Band Box at the Sounds game! The morning of the race I ended up eating a banana mashed with peanut butter and cinnamon and then a banana/apple baby food pouch right before running and my stomach felt surprisingly good during the whole race which was awesome!

We ran with the Franklin Road Runners and represented Team Beef and Team Potato this year. The 10K didn't start until 8 but we got downtown around 7 so we could take a team picture before the 5K began. After the picture we talked with a few friends and walked around looking at all of the different vendors and made a stop by the classic cars that were posted up by the theater. We did a short warm-up and then got ready to race!

The gun went off and we began! I love the Franklin Classic 10K route because it takes you on a little tour of Franklin. We started by running west of downtown towards Bicentennial Park and then down Del Rio Pike to Boyd Mill Ave, through Jim Warren Park and finished down W Main St. It is a beautiful run with some views of the countryside and some great parks! 

I think it was 75 degrees at the beginning of the run and was around 85 degrees at the end of the run. It was very sunny and very hot. Luckily, throughout the course there were bits here and there of shade so that made it a little more bearable. Besides the heat I actually felt really good on this run. I decided to not push it too hard because I don't do well with heat but I still ran at a good pace. I was able to talk to a bunch of people along the course so that always makes it more enjoyable! 

I finished in 52:15 with an average pace of 8:25/mi for the 6.2 miles. I was 6th in my age group out of 37 and 150 overall out of 607. Josh did amazing with a 7:38/mi!!! There was an elevation gain of about 210 ft from some nice rolling hills along the route. Overall, it was a great run!

We stayed around after the race for a bit and talked to some friends, drank a bunch of water, got an ice towel (I don't know why I have never done that before-genius!) and then went home, ate breakfast, relaxed for a bit and then recovered at the pool :) Already looking forward to the race again next year!