I jogged perhaps 3k before the race, and perhaps 2k after. It's hard to say when you have let your GPS watch die on you. So I was running watchless, and it was hot! It got up to 29.3C, but was down to 28.8C by the time we lined up to start at 3:50pm. It was sunny too, no cloud cover, but only 60% humidity so not as bad as it could have been. I didn't think keeping 90 sec/lap was possible in the heat, but I didn't want to start slower, so Coach and I agreed I should just try to keep 90's as long as possible. Yiu Kit Ching doesn't do track 10k's (she steeples) so it was Ali and I, and I knew I could beat her so long I didn't blow up. Which as fast start could do, esp if I got a cramp. I convinced my family to come and they cheered me in the stands. Coach is a Mormon, so his kids and wife came and cheered me: Go Sister Lowry. I have never been called Sister Lowry while showing my bare midriff and sweating like a pig competing on a Sunday. It made me smile until the pain made smiling a luxury. I took drinks of water 4 times in the race, I think. I don't have splits from my watch but I think I did 89 for the first three, then settled into the 90's for the most part. At halfway I was still under 6:00 pace overall by 5 seconds, which I could watch on a screen with a timer as I crossed, plus Coach was yelling splits to me. I was thinking, wow, I could break 38 maybe, even if I dropped to 92's. As the race went on, it was a bit of tailwind on the hot side of the track, but a shadow crept into lane 1 2/3 through the race, if not sooner, to make the headwind side also a cooler side. It was kind of fun to wonder what my next split would be (since I didn't have 200m feedback) and to see how long I could hold on. Turns on I held on pretty much the whole way. I did three 91's and one 92 (lap 5, I thought I had four laps to go and to find out I had five took a bit of wind out of my sails). As the race wound down I could see Ali and I was getting closer to lapping her, and I was in striking distance with 200m to go, so I apologized to her in my head and kicked it in, passing her with 150m to go. She did well, considering her times from the past, with a 38:4something. I got 37:07, my best 10k time since last fall, and under pretty hot conditions. I was so happy with my performance. Monday: AM 16.18k (10.05 miles) at 4:56 pace. Started slower and felt dead for 4k then perked up. My weigh in is my lowest in 11 months. I was dehydrated, but I will take it. My month of no sugar treats is paying off.
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