Still awaiting my time...they had a computer malfunction and could not do the awards ceremony...
Woke up at 4:30 (not my thing) and drove out to Pueblo this mroning to get ina nice 10 miler. Planned to do it at marathon goal pace and drop it down if I needed to actually race, race. Breakfast was eaten in the car, so I was REALLY happy that there were real bathrooms by registration!
Got there in plenty of time, as the weather totally held out for the drive. It was 32 when we arrived and high 40's throughout the race. opted to race with a singlet and arm warmers. Was glad for the arm warmers at the beginning, but totally did not need them for the race.
Course was on a bike path along a river and was out and back. Settled into a 7:00 min pace, but was confused by who was in the 10 miler and who was inthe 10k as they started together. First 2 miles were really easy and uneventful. Ran up to a guy that had pink running shoes and tried to strike up a conversation...he was not into talking at all, so I had to try to make a new friend. One gal kept surging ahead and then kinda dying. SO , to put her out of her misery, I dropped to 6:20's for a while just to see how long she could go (kinda like an ice cream truck that goes JUST a little too fast, but slow enough to be in reach?) Anyways, she did not want to have fun with me anymore, so I kept at it for about 30 more seconds then settled into high 6:40's.
The volunteers were great! Track and cross country kids from the neighboring school were out there cheering and handing out refreshments (as well as course marshalling). At the turn off for the 10k, it seemed like everyone left, and I was a bit lonely.
The kids kept telling me I was number one female, so I settled in for a marathon pace type run (which seemed nice, seeing as I ran 68 miles this week!). Unfortunately, they ether missed or did not recognize that one of the other participants that was ahead of me was, in fact, a female....By the turn around point, I realized tht it would take me 6:10's to 6:20's to close the gap. AND when I realized that I was WAY ahead of third, i opted to settle back into my blissful MP.
Everything was smooth until around 8 miles, when I started to have to focus to keep my pace. No pain or discomfort, really just a focus thing. No one passed me until about 800m out, when a couple of guys that had been drafting opted to make a move. Tucked in with them, caught one back before the final hill and run up the back of the other when we got onto the track in the stadium. We spoke briefly and darted off together. Wanted to look good for my pic, so let him get a couple of steps ahead so I could smile pretty! (Must have made an impression, cuz I ended up talking to the photographer ALOT after the race...hee!)
SO, garmin says 6:52 average pace (we will see what the official results say...) Did a little bit before to warm up and covered some slow, easy distance after to cool down to round out 17 miles for the day. Very satisfied, though wish I knew there was another chick as it would have been fun to push each other!
Confident that I can hold same pace through half marathon in 2 weeks (and maybe knock it down a bit on fresher legs?) All in all, very fun race and absolutely worth the drive, as I would not have done that type of quality in a long run by myself. One more 65 mile week and then a small taper before my practice half!
(Drew-recovering from pneumonia--got to run 60 minutes today!!!!!!!!) Time for chocolate!!!!
(OH!!! Just found out that Squirrel ran a 5k today!!--oops I meant Saturday... Way to go!) |