I wanted to do well but I also wanted to be realistic. Given my injury and my slow come back to running, my goal going into the race was 50 minutes or less. The course is flat as a pancake so I knew an 8 minute pace would be challenging yet attainable. That's exactly what it was. 10k is a tricky distance. I had to be really careful not to go out too fast and blow up in the second half. I almost prefer 5k's. They are more painful but the are only 3 miles. I kept my head space pretty good the entire time, trying to stay relaxed and focus on the right now instead of how much more I had. A couple other strategies I used were slight surges every once in a while, nothing huge just a nudge, and smiling. Smiling really does make you run faster!!
I did a 2 mile warm up at a really easy pace. My legs felt really good so I got a boost of confidence there.
I took a caffeine gel and started the race with a burst of adrenaline that was very noticeable. I slowed it down a bit and focused on staying in control and keeping good form. Good form while trying to run faster than I'm used to is proving to be a bit challenging. I feel sloppy but it's improving.
Splits:
1- 7:44 Super relaxed but scared I was going too fast.
2- 7:52 Controlled but feeling it.
3- 7:55 Ah, Liberty Park, my happy place. I know this park all too well; feels good to be in a familiar place.
4- 8:05 I let the bad thoughts of "only half way there" creep in but tried to focus.
5- 8:02 Legs feeling it, but I still felt good and in control.
6- 8:00 Sloppy legs, a little jello-like but reminded myself that there was a mile to go and I wasn't done yet. Plus, if the cute lady in front of me could do it so could I. I was also wondering why I wanted to run a completely flat half marathon again. Completely crazy!
.2- 1:30(7:37 pace) Felt good about the effort. I pushed and stayed in control.
Finish 49:09/7:55 pace
cool down to finish.
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