After four months of recovery from a Jones Fracture and foot surgery, a month of getting back to running, and then three weeks recovering from the flu, this 10k was not only my longest race but my longest run in 6 months. But Mike Hogan said “why not?” And I realized “lack of fitness” and “it will be cold” were not good answers. Besides, it was good training to overcome reluctance, remember what it’s like to get up in the morning to race, and get back on the horse. Mike picked me up, and off we go to the first of a 4-race series!
Beautiful day, low 20s but warmer in the sun. Gathered in the local elementary school, juggled my layers (warm beanie rather than the SuperWool hat, visor for the sun, thermal shirt and wicking shirt rather than jacket, warm gloves rather than igloo mittens, medium-weight rather than heavyweight tights). The race started informally — around 0.1 miles from the starting mat and finish line — and I just ran as best I could. As Coach Steve had predicted, despite (or because of) the prior day’s 1:45 hour bike ride followed by 0:30 minutes running as fast as I could (all of 9:25 minutes/mile!), I felt stronger than I expected. First mile was 8:09 (downhill…). Good thing I ignored my watch and went by RPE (relative perceived exertion).
Ran across a bridge over a pretty bay, snow on the trees and beautiful, past a short beach and then… some hills. I had forgotten about the hills on this course (having neglected to write a race report last year!) and miles 2, 4 and 5.5 had some long ones. Oh, well; I wasn’t racing for time; I was racing to see what I could do, today. Passed a few people, briefly, and even the guy huffing like a cow passed me in the end. My slowest 10k — 53:41 (8:39 per mile), 15/23 AG, 121/201 OA, — but much faster than then 57 minutes (9:25 per mile) I had predicted.my average heart rate was 160 bpm, which I didn’t know I could sustain. Again: this was my longest run in 6 months and I’m grateful to here.
In two weeks: the Ridgefield 15k!