Another hot and humid Deseret News 10K. I was amazed at the elite
runners that showed up for a chance to win $1500. The winning man,
Alene Reta, is incredible. I tried to stay with him the first 5K, but
then had to slow...lol. Those guys are amazing. I have never seen a
more stacked field at any race. It was cool to be at the start with
elite local and national runners. I jogged from my house to the
start (about 3 miles) and was sweating pretty hard when I arrived.
Unfortunately, there was no hydration at the start. I hit the
portta-potties really quick and talked to some running and blogging
friends then tried to squeeze my way toward the front. Below are my
splits: Mile 1: 5:33--I was feeling strong, but lots of people
were passing me. I knew not to go out too fast, so stayed back (in
hindsight this may not be the best way to run the DN 10K).. Mile
2: 5:38--Nice mile. Starting to catch people that passed me earlier.
I could see several women in front of me and I begin to reel them in. Mile
3: 5:59--Tough little hill up to South Temple, but I was planning about
a 6:00/mile pace here. Runners are no longer passing me. 5K Split: 17:48--Right on Pace.
Mile 4: 5:57--A lot slower than I wanted down South Temple. I get passed by a guy pushing a jog stroller! Crap! Mile 5: 6:00--Made the turn down 200 East and catching lots of runners, but I know my pace is toast. Mile
6: 6:22!!--Half marathon pace! I guess I'm more of a 8K runner. This
last mile blew my 36:00 goal out of the water. I'm now just trying to
pass people (and not get passed). Mile 0.22--Ran at 6:05 pace. I caught several runners toward the finish, but one guy flew by me like I was walking. All
and all, not too bad. I ran pretty hard this week (mileage wise)
trying to come back from the swine flu that put my marathon training
mileage behind. With a little more rest, I should get the sub 36:00
next year. It was still a PR. Watched several other running friends
come in and everyone had a good race. Kudos to Craig who smoked the
course. I didn't know he could run that fast--2nd in his age group.
Also, apparently, a water stop was missing, but I rarely take hydration
during a 5 or 10K (will just slow you down). After the race, I
jogged back to my house (2 miles), showered, had community breakfast at
our local Ward with Elizabeth and Lucas, then watched the parade. I'm
rarely home on Pioneer Day, so it was fun to view all the activities.
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