This was my 2nd ever 10K race, the first one being this same race last year. My unofficial time in that race was 1:04:43 (chip time 1:04:59, but that’s the clock time, and doesn’t account for the time it takes you to actually get from the back of the pack to the starting line). Last year’s race resulted in a really excellent time (for me), and i wanted to beat it, but i was hesitant to actually say that was my goal. I haven’t felt too great about my runs lately.
I got up at 7, had a banana and a little water. I decided not to bring any gadgets, such as my GPS watch. It doesn’t rest easy on my wrist, and i figured i’d just try to enjoy the race. It was chilly – in the 40s i would guess. I wore two shirts (and looong shorts, to avoid the inner-thighs-on-fire issue i had last year).
Got to the site with plenty of time to jog in, get my loot, jog back to the car, jog to the bathroom and then walk around in the sun a bit trying to warm up. I started near the back of the pack, and probably crossed the start line about 20 seconds after the gun.
Mile 1: I felt fine. I just went with a pace that was comfortable for me. The beginning is always a bit of a jostle as people are weaving around you and you’re trying to weave around others and get with a group that’s going your pace. The second half of this mile is a pretty steep hill – i heard someone say it was a 5% incline. I just pushed through it. I was running next to a mom and kid team – he was about 9 and pretty chatty. We’re in the middle of the hill and he says “i’m tired!” I just chuckled and thought, “we’ve got a long way to go, kid.” I somehow missed the mile marker and time-caller.
Mile 2: Saw my buddy Frank (who is on my Leanest Loser exercise team at work) after he turned around but i was still going up, and waved. After i turned around, there was a water station, but i didn’t want to interrupt my rhythm and passed it by. Of course we got to run down the big hill now. Last year i felt great and pushed it on the downhill, but i’ve heard my more experienced running pals talk about how they use the downhills to conserve energy for the tough parts ahead, so i stayed steady. Gravity pulled me a bit faster, i suppose, but i was just concentrating on regulating my breathing. At the turnoff around the lake, the 9 year-old caught me – he had sprinted downhill and left his mom in the dust. He saw the fast people completing their loop across the lake and said “hey, we’re almost done!” I reminded him we’d have to do it all a second time. He told me his record was 1:06 and he wanted to beat that. I told him i did, too. We heard 20:30 as we passed the mile marker.
Mile 3: The lake doesn’t look that big, but it seems to get bigger as you keep going around it. Little dude’s mom caught up to him, and he asked her “Mom, are you sure we have to go up that hill again?” They stopped to walk. I hit mile 3 at 30:30.
Mile 4: There was a water stop at the starting line, and i stopped briefly to grab a drink and throw water on my face. Then, onward. And upward. I resisted the urge to walk up the big hill, instead pushing through. One thing i have learned is that you can run slower and while it’s not as much of a recovery as walking, it works well enough. I was hating the hill, but once past it, i caught my breath and kept on going. The timer called out 42-something.
Mile 5: Grabbed a quick sip of water after the turnaround, but didn’t slow down at all. Again did not push it on the downhill. I looked for the little dude and his mom, but oddly never saw them again. 52:10
Mile 6: Around the lake. The first half is all in the shade, which was great for cooling off. The temperature was probably getting into the mid-to-upper 50s by this point in the day. Everyone was pretty spaced out, and by now i recognized quite a few of the people around me as people who had been near me the whole race. We started passing a few people who were running out of gas, which certainly helps with the motivation towards the end of a race. The second half of the lake was all in sun, but i felt strong. There was a pack of about 4-5 people just behind me, and i don’t know if they were pacing off of me, or if them being behind me pushed me to keep going, but it worked. At the point we turned back onto the road, i passed a girl i had been trailing the whole race, who had always been just ahead. The final .2 was long, but i tried my best to find the reserves that i didn’t use on the downhill. I knew i was going to beat last year’s time.
My official clock time was about 1:04:15, which puts me ab about 1:03:55 from when i crossed the start line, by my guess. How awesome is that?
This is a really great race – i like knowing what’s coming during the second half. It’s well-run, and the venue is great – the lake is very pretty. I would prefer that they had mats at the starting line so we could get an official time from the start line to the finish line. But i won’t hold that against them – this is a race i’m going to try to run every year.
Tags: running
Wednesday evening, i got my hair cut and got some reddish-violet highlights in my hair. Hurray for new hair!
Baseball season is here! Every year, Lance is like a little kid with how excited he gets about baseball. It’s also softball season. Lance has been playing softball this season with some people that i work with. Even though their team has been stomped a few times (the “mercy rule” has been invoked more than once) and hasn’t won a game yet, he’s very happy to be playing again.
The pull was pretty bad. Two days later, he was limping past the mirror and caught a glimpse of the back of his leg. It had some pretty severe purple splotches. Notice there is a slight discoloration in the calf, but most severe right above the knee.
