Report: Victory for Victims 10K River Run

Total Time: 54:26
Overall Rank: 145/467
Age Group: 45-49
Age Group Rank: 10/18

Pre-race routine

This is part of my series of long bike on Saturday/run on Sunday training weekends. I had planned to do a 9 mile run today but this race appeared on my radar and it was for a good cause so I decided to do it, instead. So, my pre-race routine started with a 67 mile bike ride on Saturday. While I didn't push it up the hills, I was going pretty good in the flats. Stayed well-hydrated on the ride. Ate well and took a good nap when I got home.

Woke up at 6am Sunday morning. All I had was a glass of Gatorade to get the digestive system moving. Eventually got dressed, got my stuff together, and drove to the race.

Event warmup

Jogged about 1/4 mile ten minutes before the 8:30 start time.

Run

The goal was to come in under 55 minutes, which is an 8:52 pace. I learned from my last half-mary to negative split these races so the plan was to stay just above 8:52 for the first three or four miles. At mile three, if I was feeling good then pick up the pace slightly. At mile four, pick up the pace slightly. At mile five, let loose.

I set my Garmin's slow pace alert for a 9:10 pace and started the race. Dodged a lot of people at the start, of course, but that wasn't so bad. The pace alert worked out great as I could stay within myself but pick things up a bit if it went off. At mile 2.5 I felt a bit of a twinge in my right hamstring. I didn't think it was a cramp and if it was a muscle pull, it was a tiny one. I'd pay attention to it but wouldn't slow down unless it made me. Got to mile three and didn't feel like going faster so I didn't. Got to mile 4 and picked things up a bit and passed a bunch of people. At mile five I got down to business, passing even more people. Not fun but it was manageable. There was no sprint to the finish line this time, as I left it all out on the course.

What would you do differently?

VERY pleased with my race so I wouldn't have changed a thing. I paced myself just right, ran according to plan, and made my goal time. Good job!

Post race

Warm down

Walked around, grabbed some of the freebie food and water. The usual.

What limited your ability to perform faster

The four hour bike ride the day before. :-)

Event comments

I don't do many straight road races but I can see making this one an annual event. It benefits a good cause, it's a great time of the year weather-wise, and it's a nice course.