My 10K this morning, that is.
Today was not only my first 10K in almost 6 months, but also my first tempo run in months. But that is precisely why I did it. Time to get back into uptempo work, and what better way to do it than in a small race?
I headed out to the race this morning and it was raining. Not bad - it was supposed to be warm and very humid. But when I got there, it started lightening and thundering like crazy, so we all huddled under a shelter and waited for the storm to pass. Half an hour later - go!!! It was still raining pretty good, but the thunder (mostly) subsided. It was weird getting geared up to race though - then having to wait 30 minutes - then immediately GO! when the all clear was signalled.
I have done this 10K 2 times previously and both times had relatively slow times. Usually it is because of the exact position I am this year - first 10K of the season. Although usually I have *some* tempo work in. My plan was to run 7:2x-7:30s and make it a true tempo run. If I was feeling better, great.
We were off and I did a pretty good job reining it in - first mile 7:24. Second mile 7:35. Miles 2-4 are the only hills and while they are not bad - they ain't flat either. Just before the turn around I saw the first female - and she was WAY fast. The second female was about 2 minutes ahead of me. And the hard part about this race is that there are literally only about 15-20 people in the 10K so you really are running alone for the most part. Mile 3 was 7:50 - darn! I tried to concentrate and not lose too much speed. I kept telling myself to pick up the foot turnover. Mile 4 was 7:55. Yikes. The good news was that the hills were over. My HR was dropping and I knew I needed to pick it up, but was having a hard time doing so. I started thinking I am really losing my racing mojo. Then I decided - no - 10Ks just really suck for me - it is always like this - GO!! About half a mile later a big black lab came running and barking at me. Its owner was several hundred feet away just yelling at it. I continued to run and it continued to chase me. And the owner continued yelling to no avail. Damn. I stopped, hoping the dog would run back to its owner. Unfortunately that didn't happen and the owner just stood there yelling. And we (dog and I) stood there. And more yelling from owner. And dog did not care one bit. He was fired up and eyeing me ready to go. It became clear the dog was not going to go back and the yelling owner was going to continue yelling to no avail, so I ran it back to the owner, who eventually grabbed it (the owner, BTW is upper 60s, so I see why she was not chasing this spry dog down). I took off again. And there the wheels officially fell off. Its not that I couldn't have resumed my pace, its just that I didn't really care anymore. I had stopped for a good minute and a half or two and I knew my time sucked. I had turned off my watch and had no idea how fast (or slow) I was going at this point, but probably 8:30ish.
I thought about just stopping at my car and DNFing. Dammit. I don't DNF. Not ever. Not today either.
It was not until I only had about only .6 to go that I thought I heard someone behind me - which encouraged me to pick it up, sista. Heh. I may be slow today, but no one is beating me now! So I picked it up a bit and finished strong. Not fast, but I felt like I had a nice strong stride.
Crazy news? I got an award anyway as 3rd female/2nd a/g (remember the 15-20 particiants thing?). Heh. Slowest 10K ever. 49:23. Sheesh. Gotta love small races. And yeah, the dog thing slowed me down, but I wasn't going to end up with a good race even if it didn't happen. Although I would have been PISSED off if it happened while I was having a good race. ;) I wonder if I would have just kept going and said too bad if this dog runs a mile and a half with me?
I can't say I'm not bummed that I can't seem to pull races together these days. But I had a good time, met some new people and well, did what I did. Better luck next time.
It ended up being a decent workout and I should be over 60 miles this week for the first time since spring season. And I feel good. I'll take it.
Dammit.
2 comments:
sorry the race didn't go as you'd hoped, but you gotta love the 3rd OA.
That thing about the dog just stinks. If it were me, and if the dog didn't seem threatening, I would've just let it run with me as long as it wanted so the owner would have to find some way to get it back. Stupid owner - what if instead of running at you, the dog had run into the path of a car or something? I love dogs, but they should not be allowed to run loose. Especially near me. When I'm running.
Thanks. Yeah, once I stopped, I realized the dog was ok. And I think normally I would have kept going right after that. But this was a tiny race in the tiny town I grew up in - I knew that lady (who was screaming for the dog). Would have been rude not to stop. Although if if was a great race, I may have just apologized later...
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