ACO Fall Fest Race Report

So after I wrote THIS, I figured I had better post on how the race went.  First of all, it's a very small race (about 200 people running both the 5k and 10k) put on by the Allen Community Outreach.  My friend, Robin D's husband helps organize it.  I was glad to not only go out to show my support, but to also get 2 Racing It Off runners to head out also - Samantha was running the 10k as her first race EVER and Christina would be running her 2nd 10k and pacing Samantha.  And bonus - Libby was there running the fun run with her daughter and then joining in for the 10k. 

Samantha, Me, Christina

(for the record, Robin D ran and hid so that she would miss the photo)

The plan for the day - PR.  Here's where I should say that 10k is my LEAST favorite distance.  5ks are downright painful at puke pace, but they are over in less than 30 minutes.  Half marathons are at a pace that is hard, but comfortably sustainable over a distance.  A 10k... the pace is puke-a-rific *and* you have to maintain it for almost a full hour.  No thank you.  But regardless, I still signed up for the 10k.  Also important to note that I *just* PR'd at the 10k distance a month and a half ago with a 57:12 - down over 2 minutes from my January time.

Anyhow, it was time to endure the pain, so we lined up at the start, and we were off.  It was a small race, so I expected to stay somewhat towards the upper-middle portion of the pack... but noooooo... the second the gun went off, people BLAZED past me.  I looked at my Garmin and saw 7s and thought "no way".  I reminded myself that I'd pick them off when they all passed out at mile 2.

Mile 1 - 8:31

For the record, my fastest mile clocked EVER.  (No, I've never done a magic mile.  My fastest mile was during a 5k and clocked in at 8:34.)  So two things go through my head at this point "oh my goodness, that felt great, can I hold this?" and "oh crap!!!  I just started way too fast."  I wasn't sure which one was the truth at this point.

Mile 2 - 8:49

There's my answer... the second one was the truth... I started way too fast.  Oops.  So far the course has been relatively flat, and the temperature has felt awesome.  But then we start to enter some hills.

Mile 3 - 8:59

Oh dear, I'm losing it already.  My pace is slipping... I want to puke.  I see Robin zip by - the second female.  I want to walk... And then what is THAT?  The hill of death right before the turn around (which was at 3.8)... I couldn't breath.  My lungs were burning.  Ugh...  After the turn around, I see Christina and Samantha.  I can't even tell you if they looked strong or not because I was literally on the verge of hallucinations!  Then I see Libby.  Again I wave, but all I can think about was how my lungs hurt and how heavy my legs are.  Usually my lungs give out before my legs, but this time it was both.

Mile 4 - 9:03
Mile 5 - 9:18

There goes my goal of keeping it under 9 for every mile.  And to see consistently positive splits was not a good thing.  Really unhappy with my race day execution... I shouldn't have started so fast.  I can usually pull something out of the hat on mile 6, but I had nothing in the tank.  There were people in front of me that I was so close to and I wanted to push past, and I just couldn't move any faster.

Mile 6 - 9:22

Ugh.  Fail on race execution.

Last 0.26 - 8:24 pace ... barely faster than my first mile.  I had no sprint left.  I can usually pull that last little bit out no matter what, but my legs said NO.

Finish 56:10 - a 1:02 PR.  11th overall female.  2nd in my age group (it was a small race, but there were 15 people in my age group, so I was excited to place).

Really proud of my time.  I know 10ks are a hard distance for me... and when I looked back on the course elevation, I was less bothered by the consistently positive splits because the first 2 miles were mostly downhill... hilly sections during 3 and 4, and steady uphill for 5 and 6.  So the splits make sense, even though I wish I could've pushed at the end and had my traditional strong finish.  I knew I left everything I had out there. 

After a few minutes of rest, I walked out to the 6 mile marker to wait for Samantha and Christina.  I ran in the last 0.2 with them.  I could tell that Samantha really pushed for this one.  She had left everything out there on the course.  So proud of her.  I told her she could temporarily hate me, but I wanted her to use her long legs (yes, a kindred leg-zilla) and sprint the finish.  She pulled it out and finished in 1:11:21 for her first race ever.  I think that was uber-impressive.  Go Samantha Go!!!  Christina was an awesome friend and pacer!

Robin D grabbed a 4 minute PR with a 48:57 (seriously?  that's ridiculously fast) and pulling off 2nd overall, 1st in her age group.  Since her husband did a lot of the organizing, he did the announcements for the awards, and he may have just been a tad proud to announce his wife's name!!! 

Also a shout-out to my awesome friend, Emily, who ran her 5th half marathon this past weekend and did great!  So proud of her!!!