A 10K on a Whim

I ran a 10K on Sunday. I had decided on Saturday that if I woke up on Sunday morning and there was no rain was falling, that I would mosey up the road a few miles and run a race. My practice pace has been falling lately, and I was pretty confident that I had a 10K PR in me. Well, when I looked out the window Sunday morning, the streets were wet, but there was nothing falling from the sky. Off to the Make Room for Santa 10K!

I ran this race last year and had a great time. It is a low key but well organized event on a neat course that runs as far north as civilization goes in the Irvine area. Normally, I like to be a planner and have everything figured out ahead of time, but Sunday I just went with the flow. Race start time was 7:45AM.I moseyed out the door at 6:30 for the 20 minute or so drive to the race site, boarded a bus and was the registration table with 20 minutes to spare.

It was a beautiful morning and a perfect day to run. The sky was filled with big, puffy clouds, the weather was cool but not cold (I actually took a layer off before the race) and the air was fresh following Saturday's rain.


There were a few changes to this race from last year. Instead of both the 5K and 10K events starting together, they were separate this year, with the 10Kers starting about 5 minutes after the 5K racers. Here's the 5K start:




With the 10K start seperated, there were a lot fewer people on the course at a time than last year which really cut two ways. The good? Less bobbing and weaving. The bad? I went out way too fast. Mile 1: 8:45. Uphill. Since I ran this last year, I should have known better. The uphill didn't stop until mile 2. Mile 2: 9:24. By mile 3 I was spent. I felt like my heart was about to explode so I had to take a walk break and gather myself. Guess it didn't help that I rowed 8 kilometers (5 miles) the night before. And I didn't get my usual prerace apple fritter! Gah! Mile 3: 9:14. On a net downhill mile. I ran into Barefoot Bob! Any barefoot runners out there?




By this time I was trying to salvage a race that wasn't going according to plan. I pushed again through mile 4, where, even with a rolling hill I sill put in an 8:45. But I was close to blowing up again during mile five, so had to pull in the reigns. It's pretty disappointing when the best that you can do on a downhill portion of the course is a 9:13.

I pulled through the final little (I mean little) uphill and hit the mile 5 sign. From there it is all downhill into the finish. Mile 6: 8:33. As I pulled into the final .2, I ran with an older fellow who had struggled to stay ahead of me the whole race. We looked at each other and I said to each other in unison, "Time to finish this bad boy." We pushed the final .2, digging down deep. My day was pretty well shot anyways, so as we entered the finish chute I pulled up just a tad to let him through the line one step ahead. Final 0.2 - 2:03. Garmin time: 55:44. Official time: 56:27. That's a whole minute and a half slower than last June.

Overall, I was pretty disappointed with my performance. Not because of the time. I mean heck - this was all done on a whim - a last minute decision. If I wanted to PR, then I should have rested on Saturday, fueled prerace (at least something other than a cup of coffee), and showed up in time to put in a little warm up. What I was disappointed in was my lack of execution. This isn't my first 10K. I know better than to go out too fast. I needed to pull in the reigns on mile 1 so I don't blow up a mile later. Geesh. Physical errors are going to happen, but mental mistakes are inexcusable.

Oh - on a positive note, I did confirm that my maximum heart rate is indeed 185!

Race Report - Make Room for Santa 10K

Time for another race report! This time with a better outcome (and a few less people) than on Thanksgiving. After my little wet and wild adventure then, I waited with baited breath as the weatherman predicted rain Saturday night and Sunday. I had decided that if I woke to wet sidewalks, I was climbing back in bed. I parted the blinds to relief! It was a *beautiful* sunrise. Some high clouds, dry sidewalks and no wind. I packed my gear and took off up the road to Irvine.

I was in my car for just a couple of minutes when my car started dinging at me. What?!? I looked down at my instrument panel - what's that snowflake doing there? Yup. When it's below 37* out, my car switches into "Winter Mode" in case I run into ice. Guess what - 36* at 6:40 AM, and I'm less than a mile from the beach! Glad that I wore the long sleeves!

This race, even though a small affair, was well organized. Parking was a couple of miles away, but the buses were running frequently enough that the wait was less than 10 minutes. I got to the start line and was surprised to find hundreds of people milling about. I was hoping to set a PR. The people were only going to make it tougher.

This race is a combined 5K and 10K. All runners start at the same time, and a couple of miles in the 5K'ers split and then rejoin the race at the 5 mile point. So, it was a little crowded. In fact, when the horn sounded, it still took a minute to get to the start line (more on that later).

The race was sold as a "flat and fast course." My legs were telling me different though. My first two miles of 8:56 and 9:07 were as much about the steady climb as they were about dodging slower runners. After the race, the elevation profile showed a steady elevation gain of a little over 200 feet over the first three miles.









But, where there is uphill there must be downhill! At the three mile mark, the net uphill became a net downhill for the remainder of the race. By this time, we were about as far north as the City of Irvine goes. The views were nice, the streets were clear of traffic, and the crowds were thinning out. Time to push the pace a little to see if my goal PR (55:00) was within reach. I fell into a rhythm with a bunch of other runners. I glanced down at my Garmin and noticed that my pace was down in the 8:30 range. Wow! I've never run at this pace this far into a race before. The best part - my heart rate was sitting right at 160 and I felt good and strong!

The next two miles were on a wide open street with a couple of rolling hills thrown in for good measure. We passed the Mile 5 marker and turned left along the freeway. Just as the race organizers had promised, downhill finish! That's right! From mile 5 to the finish line! About 150 feet down! I pushed the pace even more. I was thinking that a 54:00 was within reach! I passed the 6 mile mark and pushed a little harder. All of a sudden - alarms were going off! I had set a new PR! Heart rate that is! 185! 108% MHR! I *had* to slow down for a few seconds to catch my breath - costing me about 15 seconds on my total time. Next thing I knew I was in the finish slot crossing the line. I looked at the clock and looked at my Garmin. I liked what the Garmin said - 54.11! But, the crowds conspired against me. The official clock said 55:32 as I crossed the line. Still - that meant a PR by over 2 minutes! I was happy that RoseRunner and travelmama from the Runners World forums talked me into this one! Thanks guys!



After race, I wandered around a bit grabbing some water and some of the snacks that had been laid out for us. I stopped and talked to Ted Newcomb from the shop I had bought my shoes from (which by the way are working out great). I ran into a few folks that I had run with before, including Lori and Matt from the OC Trail Runners (http://www.octrailrunners.org/).



I also ran into Santa:

Mrs. Claus:

The running nativity scene:

The Whos from Whoville:

And Rudolph (or was it Max?)!

All in all, a satisfying run and a nice way to spend a morning! I'm now done for the rest of this year. In fact, I am having some hip problems that may sideline me for a while. That, though is the subject of another blog entry...