Great races Prince and worrierking!
4th of July 10k Race Report
So coming in this was going to be my 2nd ever 10k. The first was run on the same course last July 4th. At that time my knee had started acting up on me and I ate and drank like a fool the night before so I was feeling pretty confident I would be able to best last years performance.The night before the race was pretty uneventful this time around. I was really starting to feel some pre-race nervousness but was able to get a good nights sleep. Race was set to go off at 9 and I was up and ready to go after a light breakfast around 7:30. The forecast had called for some rain but not until later in the day. A quick look at the radar showed the rain was going to be starting much earlier. I figured this wouldn't be a bad thing as the suck index was already in the 140's. Got to the race, checked in and spent the next 20 minutes attempting to loosen upwhile staying as dry as I could as the skies had started opening up.
Off to line up at the start and the rain is coming down pretty heavily now. No avoiding being soaked at this point. I flip on my garmin and #### me it is just stuck on 'locating satellite'. The gun is getting closer now and I'm freaking out a bit. Being pretty unexperienced I really suck at pacing myself. I start mashing buttons and poof it magically seems to come on seconds before the gun goes off. whew, crisis averted.
Mile 1 - Still a little frazzled by the Garmin I set off. The race is fairly large (around 1k runners) and I started a little ways back from the front so the first 1/4 mile is a lot of weaving in and out of traffic. With all the zig zagging I really struggle to settle in to a pace for most of the mile. At one point I look down and see a pace of 5:40, eh yea better dial it back.. look down again and see 8:20.. well ####.. I was all over the map here. Finish mile 1 in
7:14. Yeah just like I planned!
Mile 2 - I pass a dude dressed like George Washington and a guy in a hot dog costume during this mile and start to settle in as the pack thins out. I'm with about 2-3 others now that seem to be running the pace I want to be at. Lots of small hills on this course, but it almost feels like the whole first 2 has been uphill to this point. The rain has stopped now. I was able to ditch the plastic bag that was holding my Sansa clip. I was pretty happy about that as it was a pain in the balls trying to switch music with that on. In my last race I accidentally flipped my mp3s off and turned it to AM Radio. Nothing like dry political conversation on an AM station to get the blood pumping.
7:18
Mile 3 - still feeling good but notice my pace has slipped a bit. Not sure if this is weird but this race is also a 5k relay in addition to the 10k. All the runners start at the same time and then the 5k finish is within the 10k course. So I have some people kicking it in around me here finishing the 5k. I attempt to grab a water and fail miserably. For whatever reason I turn into
Ted Striker when they hand me a cup. I manage to get about 4 drops of water into my mouth.
7:25
Mile 4 - this section of the course goes through some neighborhoods that are close to my house and that I've run through in training. With the rain gone more spectators have come out which is pretty cool. I'm able to pick up the pace slightly and am still feeling pretty good.
7:22
Mile 5 - as we exit the neighborhoods and head back on to a main road I flash back to this point in the race last year and remember that this is the section where I really started struggling. After the race some other runners told me that this stretch is known to get a lot of people. On paper there is nothing that would make it seem really difficult. Just a gradual uphill (nothing severe). I think part of it is that there is zero shade. The sun had started to peak out just a bit and the rain hadn't done much to quell the humidity (feeling really sticky out now). Immediately I start to feel like ####. My mouth was a little dry and it was getting a little harder to keep the legs pumping. I see my pace gradually slowing but not to the extent of what happened last year. I'm determined not to let this stretch break me. It is a struggle though and I'm looking down at my watch seemingly ever tenth of a mile.
7:36
Mile 6 - turn off the miserable stretch of road from mile 5 and knowing I'm entering the home stretch I start to feel a little better. A couple hills in this last mile and it is generally an uphill climb. About half way through this mile I notice my pace slipping back again and a few people I had passed had gone back ahead of me. The crowds had really started to fill in now and at one point a group of 4-5 kids comes out starts running with us on the course. One in the group picks me out and says 'hey lets run with this guy!' They run along side me for a short stretch, we exchange some

, they proclaim me to be "fast" and I'm on my way. Thought that was pretty cool and helped me pick back up the pace a bit.
7:33
Last .23 - feeling pretty dehydrated I'm little woozy as I approach the finish. I'm kind of having a little back and forth battle in my mind over whether I have anything left to throw on the fire for the finish. I look at the watch and see that finishing under 46 is a possibility but I still can't quite get the legs going. Finally I'm passed by a smokin hot 20 something in these ridiculously (good) tight spandex type shorts - like
these or
these or
these or
these .. you get the point. Well that was the tipping point and I turned it up and gave it all I had to finish.
1:38 (7:07).
46:05 / 7:24. A litle bummed I didn't break 46 but overall I'm happy with the results and had a good experience. Beat last years time by a shade over 3 minutes. I feel like if I keep upping my miles (only around 18-20/week now) and mixing in some speed work I can destroy this time again by next year. Sorry if I rambled here and there in this write up.