My second 10k of the year. Wow, has it really been a whole year already since I ran this race? Last year, the Gen Chesty Puller was my very first 10k and I was glad to be back running it again in the small town of West Point. This year I am glad the start time got moved up to 7 am (that Virginia summer heat is no joke, I tell ya!).  It was an absolutely beautiful day for running. The air was clear, despite the pollution coming from a nearby factory, but it was much less humid out compared to last years race.

This race featured the same course as last year, but this year we ran the course backwards. We ran over the same grueling bridges over the Mattaponi and Pamunkey rivers. There was also an added One more for Chesty which allowed us to run an additional 1k for an extra finisher’s coin.

I was a little worried for this race. I kept pressuring myself because I felt like I had to beat last year’s time and I also placed first in my division. My right knee had been bothering me and this was my 3rd weekend in a row of having a race for the month of June alone (Yes I know, I brought this upon myself). I was finally ready to have a break after all of this running, but who am I kidding?

I started the race out towards the front of the pack. My knee started to feel tight and I had to force myself to slow down over the first bridge. As much as I wanted to beat last year’s time, I told myself it wasn’t going to be worth not walking after the race. Knee injuries are no joke and I am too young to be running myself into the ground just yet!

Pictured here you can see the smoke from the nearby factory I was talking about. It was definitely the biggest turn off during the race, but still a great race overall!

I had completely forgotten that I signed up for the extra 1k at the end, so I used that last stretch as a cool down jog.

 This is definitely not my fastest 10k and I may have lost my 1st place title from last year, but still not bad despite having knee pain! I’ll take 2nd place!

The medals this year were a vast improvement compared to last year’s race!

This race even featured a Post Race barbeque at the end! Glad I was able to run this race again and I hope to do it again next year!