Foggy Bottom Milk Run 10 Mile race report

The sun was already high in the sky for our drive to the race.  Just as dressing for the cold when you’re not used to it, dressing for sunshine here is a little bit nerve wracking, too.  With the intense moisture living this close to the coast brings, sunshine seems to amplify things further.  Matt and I were prepared with one of each item as we arrived at the start.  Eventually a test run with during our warm up settled us on short sleeves and gloves.  Because we’re not used to sunny days, our routine doesn’t include sunscreen further than the measly SPF 15 in my moisturizer

Y. Kim, SRRC Photo.

Sandwiched on a short section of Main Street in this quiet Victorian Village, our race was on.  As I always find when I’m running the longer distance of the two, it was easy to get pulled into the pace of the 4-mile runners.  This is also a common race for people that don’t normally race.  By mile two, I bore witness to several blowups and tears along the course. As I passed people and others came up from behind during the first two miles, I found myself matching stride with Barry, the club runner from the Dow’sPrairie race last year.  We ran together silently for the first three miles and then I watched as he pulled away. 

I find running races between 5K and the marathon very difficult.  I have a pretty good idea of my abilities at the top and bottom of the spectrum, so races like the 10K and 10 miler that I rarely get the opportunity to race fall into a gray area.  I have no idea what kind of pace I should start at, meaning I go out too fast or too slow.  This time was a touch too fast, but thankfully I realized it before I had a blowup.  I’m getting good at figuring it out in the moment, but sometimes I wonder if I’m just letting myself off the hook by setting up soft goals.  I planned to run a 7:30-7:50/mi average for the race. 

I ran, half staring at the broken pavement, and half staring at the person I was chasing.  By mile 5, I was thankful that I’ve run this race before.  Last year, the small but steep hills were a surprise and my form deteriorated enough through that fatigue that I didn’t have a strong finish.  This year, I focused on running them based on effort.  On this short out-and-back portion, I cheered for other runners, both those ahead and behind me.  One runner I didn’t recognize pointed me out to her friend, “That’s her”.  I don’t know if she’s a blog reader or if she’s in my age group and I have a target on my back.  My solution was to keep running. 

By mile six, the course had quieted considerably and I found myself watching the baby calves in nearby fields.  Almost this entire race is run on roads through pasture land.  Running in the sunshine with a slight cooling breeze made this feel like a euphoric training run.  Soon I caught up to another runner and we crossed a small bridge together.  Then the road ahead came into view.  “Oh boy!” I exclaimed.  “Yeah, fun, doesn’t look like we can go around it either” he echoed, a touch of sarcasm in his voice.  The road was flooded.  Thankfully we had about three miles to go so I walked through the giant puddle.  It smelled awful, probably because it was mixed with manure.  Yum.  Note to self: must bleach feet later.

Immediately, I thought back to the deluge that was CIM last fall.  I was thankful my entire race wasn’t run with heavy shoes. Additional effort was required to hold my pace, so I slowed down a little as water came squirting from my shoes.  Whenever I felt tension in my body, I slowed up a little bit and told myself to relax.  It seemed to work.  By mile nine, I hit the last aid station with semi-dry feet and picked it up a little.  Since mile 6, I had been trailing the same person, Kim.  She appeared to be fading at the same rate I did.  I made it my mission to pass her.

When we turned back onto Main Street and headed for the finish, I closed the gap between us.  She had headphones on and didn’t even look over her shoulder as I passed.  I broke into my best sprint about 400m from the finish line.  Familiar club faces cheered my name.  I saw the clock switch from 1:16 to 1:17.  All this time, I monitored my splits, not my overall time.  I was going to meet my goal!  Kim finished just a second behind me.  I wobbled for a few moments to collect myself.  Going from running hard to a stop always jolts my system a little bit.   

I was pleased with my performance.  I removed over five minutes from my 2012 time (1:22:22) and considering I didn’t taper, it makes my spring marathon goal feel attainable.  I also got a really crazy tan line across my forehead and slightly burned cheeks.  So far, 2013 is making up for the bad weather of 2012!!

Y. Kim, SRRC Photo.

1:17:05

7:42/mi.

Overall: 31/173

Female: 7/92

F25-29: 1/21

Matt had a fantastic day, also meeting his goal. 

1:02:15

6:14/mi.

Overall: 6/173

Male: 6/81 (beat all the girls, even the spectacular Cedar Smith!!)

M30-34: 1/6

After a quick baby wipe bath in the car, we were ready for part two of our day.  We watched the awards ceremony and were given our first place age group medals. 

Then, Matt and I manned the finish line for the 2-mile kid’s race this year.  Local schools compete against each other.  This year there were almost 850 runners in the 2 mile alone!  Despite the increase in numbers, I saw 5 less kids puke at the end (saw zero this time! Woo!) .