weather: low 60s, humidity ~78%, wind 8-12 MPH

Race day started off pretty normal. I got up as planned at 6AM to eat my oatmeal and drink a bunch of water. I then sat around for awhile, checking the weather and some websites. The race was scheduled for 9AM, but I needed to pick up my packet beforehand. I left my house early, figuring I'd have plenty of time to get there, get my number and relax before my warmup. The only problem was that I didn't look at the details of the race location. The race was sponsored by the Olmsted Medical Center, and I just assumed it was at the Main Clinic. I got there, and there were no cars which I thought was weird. I tried to open the door to the building, but it was locked. I then realized the race was being held at the hospital, but I had no idea where that was. Luckily, my husband was still at home, so I called and asked him for directions.

I got over to the actual site around 8:15, after being worried in the car about getting there in time. They did have my registration (I also worried about that, as the online registration site was one I hadn't used before), and I even got a shirt in the right size. I took my stuff back to my car, and then headed out for my warmup. I ran a little over a mile, incorporating 4 short strides into it. I had run a cross country 5K two days before, and was worried that my soreness (right calf muscle and right foot) would be a problem. I got through my warmup okay, but I could tell that I was going to have trouble taking turns. (For some reason, turning was hardest on my foot).

There was also a 5K, which was scheduled to start at 8:45. They were a few minutes late in starting. I hung around the start line, stretching and doing some short jogs or strides. I talked with a woman from my shoe store's race team for a bit; I realized later she looked familiar because she also ran the 20K in April. As it got closer to 9, we wondered where the starter was. Eventually, someone made the announcement that our start was going to be delayed a few more minutes. Apparently, we had to wait for the first 5K runner to finish, but I didn't catch all of what was said. Some of the other women weren't happy about the delay (some said they were getting thirsty and/or needing the bathroom again) and I had to agree about what seemed like poor planning. We'd all started our warmups on the assumption of a 9AM start, and delaying the start kind of sucked. The first runner came in around 19:25, so they should've scheduled a 20 minute gap instead of a 15 minute one. On a positive note, I was glad that they had a gap scheduled since we were running the same course (10K = 5K course x 2), and a gap made it less congested.

The starter finally came over a little after 9:10. He gave some short directions and then called "runners take your marks." But then the gun didn't go off when he pulled the trigger. After a few tries, it finally went off and we took off.

Mile 1 (7:37): I tried to avoid taking off too fast, while starting at a good pace. I wanted to PR (46:43, 7:31/mi), but didn't know how realistic that was considering I'd raced two days prior and had tired legs. Anyway, I had worn my race belt, but it started driving me nuts almost immediately. I tried loosening it up, and moving it around but I couldn't get it comfortable. And then while fussing with it, I popped one of the buttons off and the button went flying off. I didn't want to stop to retrieve it, though. So I took off my race belt, and carried it in my hand for the rest of the race.

Mile 2 (7:43): Shortly after the first mile mark, we encountered the lone hill of the course. My tired legs weren't happy to see that, but I charged up it as best I could. We then had a slight downhill, and ran through a parking lot which had a water stop. I didn't feel like stopping for water so soon, so I skipped it. A little while after that, I looked at my watch to see where we were at. But it turned out that I'd hit stop instead of lap, which was not a pleasant sight to see. I reset it so that I could re-start it at the 2 mile mark. I knew I'd be able to figure out the missing split later, although it was going to bother me that I wouldn't be able to see the running time.

Mile 3 (7:37): I ran along/behind the same two guys for most of this mile. Some guy blew by us at the end of this mile.

Mile 4 (7:36): We ran past the finish, and started the loop again. My legs were pretty tired, and I was having trouble pushing the pace.

Mile 5 (7:40): Got to run up the hill again, but I was a little slower than the first time. I thought about getting water at the stop, but decided against it. It seemed like it would be too big of a pain, since it was on the left side. I'm used to getting water on the right, where I can grab it with my right hand. I think I wouldn't have been successful drinking with my left hand. As I went by, I heard one of the volunteers say something about how I didn't stop the first time "I can't imagine ..." That amused me; I don't think a 10K is that long to go without water when it's not super hot.

Mile 6 (7:13): I gradually picked up my pace over this mile since I knew I was almost done. I'd realized that my PR wasn't going to happen, but I still wanted to finish strongly.

Mile 6.2 (1:43): I tried to come in as hard as I could, and I think this was a decent kick for my tired legs. I was pretty disappointed to not break 47, though. I had tried to flatten out my number as I came through the chute so that the volunteers would know I wasn't a bandit. I guess I didn't do a good job as "what's your number?" was shouted at me several times. My tear strip was taken, and I then headed for my car to get my water.

After drinking a bunch of water and putting my long sleeve shirt back on, I attempted to go on a cooldown. My legs were not having that though! I felt way too tired, so I settled for walking around. I stretched while eating a banana and mini-bagel, and then went back to my car to get my apple. I also put my warmup pants back on, and changed from my running shoes to my flip flops.

I then headed back up to the refreshments area to see if the results had been posted. I saw that I was the 4th female, and there was one girl in my age group ahead of me, so I wanted to stick around for awards. I passed the wait by talking to one of the guy runners. Neither of us could figure out why things were taking so long. once the awards started I found out that people who got an overall award were taken out of the age groups - so I got the 1st place AG medal.

Overall, a decent effort for having raced two days prior. I think I could've had a better race if my legs and foot weren't sore or hurting. My last mile indicates to me that I probably could've pushed harder overall, but I was afraid of running out of gas.

Splits:
1.0 | 7:37
2.0 | 7:43 | 15:20
3.0 | 7:37 | 22:57
4.0 | 7:36 | 30:33
5.0 | 7:40 | 38:13
6.0 | 7:13 | 45:26
6.2 | 1:43 | 47:09