Another hot and humid 10K led to a less than ideal time, but another win for me. This one I won by a minute. I guess I should have run the 5K for more competition. Not many people are running 10K's in this kind of heat. This is my 4th 10K in the past 6 weeks, so I guess you could say I'm getting used to running in hot weather. At first I was a little upset with the time since I've only run 50 miles this week, but the heat was a huge factor in this one. The course has some small to medium rolling hills, but it's not very flat. The 10K follows the 5K course for two loops, so I got out to a fast start running with the 5K runners. The 1st mile was a 5:26, but I was happy to finally get out hard in a race. Something I need to start doing more often. A runner by the name of Kimundo who has a personal PR of 2:14 was leading way. I ran on his shoulder through 1.5 miles where he gapped me a little at the 1st water station. I got some water down the wrong tube and lost about 10 meters of distance on him. Mile 2 wound up being slow with the coughing fit going 5:45, but I was also already feeling the heat and Kimundo was picking up the pace. He's a good runner, but he recently only ran a 1:16:15 1/2 marathon so I knew he wasn't at full speed. I thought he might be running the 5K and not the 10K. As I came through the 5K finish a runner passed me right at the line and I didn't see Kimundo standing around anywhere so, I assumed he was around the corner leading the way in the 10K. At this point I was struggling up a short steep hill and questioning if I should be going the whole 10K. I had been feeling run down the past week from high miles and tough trail running. I came through mile 3 in 6:01, so I was still somewhat holding it together. Mile 4 was a repeat of the 1st mile in topography, but not in time. I dropped a big goose egg in that mile running a 6:07. Lucky for me no one was even close and I figured I was still contending for 2nd place, maybe 1st since I couldn't see Kimundo anywhere up front. Mile 5 got really ugly splitting a 6:18, I didn't let it get me down though. I was really overheating and I was fighting a side ache, so I'm certain the effort was max. The last mile was all about just staying strong splitting a 6:06. I finished with a very easy kick and almost had to sit down at the end of the race. I managed to walk it off, but had to sit down under the shelter for a few minutes. The last .2 (6:33 pace) Hopefully, I can find some magic to run faster in a couple weeks for the Madison Mini, otherwise it could be tough to finish in the top 20.
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