Patrick's Point 10K Race Report

But wait, wasn't I supposed to be running a 5K this morning?  Yup.  But on the car ride to the race, Kathleen and Alex mentioned they wanted to run the 10K and suddenly, I found myself thinking "why not?".  I've never run a 10K before, did you know that?  Plenty of nearly every distance, but 10K doesn't seem as popular in the places I have lived.  So no matter what time I crossed the finish line, I had a PR.  Hmmm...I could go for a PR today, sure. I didn't feel like going all out and dying, so I decided a marathon pace run would be nice.

The course was hilly and made two loops.  The first mile was a moderate uphill and I spent most of it cursing the track workout I did earlier in the week.  Wearing flats for the first time left me with hugely sore calves.  Now I could really feel them.  Mile two was a nice downhill recovery and I began to melt.  Overdressed because I expected it to be raining, I sweat profusely.  Nearing the 3 mile mark, I realized I probably had gone out too fast considering the hills.  People began passing me. 

Then we hit the halfway point and the 5K finish.  Those people that passed me ran through the finish chute.  5K runners, whew.  I spent more time contemplating hitting the chute with them instead of going out for a second loop than I care to admit to.  Isn't that how it always is?  It is a cruel joke to watch people finish and enjoy the cookies while I still have one more loop.  5K in 24:40.

Kathleen enjoys the race!

As always is the case, someone grew the hills larger between my first and second time through.  Near mile 4, the heavens opened and answered my prayers.  Relief from the overheating came suddenly as the torrential downpour soaked through my layers in a minute's time.  It felt amazing.  45 degrees and a cold rain, I seem to always run best at the 40-50 degree range.  So despite the squinting grimace (which was necessary to keeping my contacts in), I really was enjoying it.  Gosh, the cold felt nice.

 

Alex out for blood in the 10K.  He placed third overall.

Running into the wind pelted me with rain drops and I struggled to keep my contacts from washing out.  I really need to buy a running cap with a brim one of these days, huh?  One contact got lodged in my eyelid and I had to slow down and rub my eyelid to get it to center again.  Although it is better than having my eyes freeze shut (which is painful in addition to blinding), it did cause a bit of momentary panic when I thought I had lost my contact to the trail underfoot.

Alex appeared at about mile 5.5 and ran the rest of the way in with me.  I told him that I had thought about walking but hadn't yet.  "If you stop to walk, I'm going to kick you," he replied, "Gotta show some tough love."  After a few more rolling hills, the finish line appeared through the rain.  FINALLY.

Just so you know, it was a happy accident that my shirt and shoes matched perfectly. This was not done on purpose. haha.

I crossed the finish line in 50:49, with a pace of 8:10/mi, and close enough to the (8:12/mi) marathon race pace I wanted.  I never before thought I could hold that pace on a hillier course. Success! Danny came up to me at the finish and asked how I did, I told him I had a PR (he knew it was my first) and that I'm not sure I like the 10K distance.  Maybe I'll grow to like it more over time.  But now, it is a strange middle ground between 5K and a half marathon that makes pacing much more difficult for me to figure out.

A funny note: My club has few 25-30 year old women, but a lot of older men.  It appears that my pace is right there with the M50-59 age group, as I am always surrounded by older men.  The Boston Marathon Qualifying standard backs that up as their qualifying time is five minutes off of mine.

(All images contained in this post are courtesy of Y.Kim and 6RRC.)