10k's are hard!!

This is my first attempt at blogging so bear with me! I'm sure there's a learning curve to this cyberspace story telling thing!

I'm an endurance athlete. I like long and somewhat slow racing and training. I'm not used to pushing my aerobic limits in 10k's or sprint tri's although I do them occasionally.... so why on EARTH did I decide to do a 10k in October in my "off" season? Did I think I could PR or set the 10k world on fire? Was I motivated to test myself... prove that I'm not as challenged at this 10k pain thing as I believe I am?

I wish the above were true, but honestly, I did it because it was cheap. Yup... there it is. I ran a 10k cause it only cost $30! When is that last time you did a race that was under $100? It's been a while for me. I compared it to an ugly set of earrings that you buy, knowing full well you'll never wear them, but they are such a good deal you can't help yourself. I call that pathetic!

So, off to the race I go with my running mate Pete! He was good enough to come along for support. THANKS Pete! The great part was the Team Tri Life was well represented with Karen, Tracy, Kelly, Christine and me there. We arrived early, did the pre-race warm up and headed to the start line. It was a chilly but beautiful morning!

The first 2k felt great! I was running faster than I though I should but it felt good. I thought to myself "I can hold this... this is effortless". Mistake number 1! By the 3rd km things started to feel a bit less easy, and by 4k I was just working. HR was up and I was focused on the gals in front of me. There were 3 of them putting me in 4th place overall. I watched the race for first unfold between TTL athlete Tracy M. and a gal who hasn't done a 10k since 2002 but is a soccer player. They pushed and pulled for that first place spot until Tracy had to relenquish to Vicky, the fast moving little soccer gal. These were the places we held to the finish. I had the top 3 in site, thinking maybe, just maybe they'd falter, not really realizing the any faltering would come from me... not them! Pete and I ran the last 3k together and he talked me through. Of course, I had my headphones on and didn't hear most of what he said. At the 7k mark Tracy was about 30 seconds in front of me. I was happy with that. Hold on Angie! She claimed to slow down in the final stages of the race, but let me tell you... she didn't hold a candle to my "anchor out the back I'm dieing and want this torture to end" type slow down! In the last 3k she took another 30+ seconds out of me! I held on for 4th, but just barely as TTL athlete Karen was close behind. I wish I could say that if I'd known she was there I could have pushed a bit harder to hold my place. Luckily I didn't have to as she didn't quite catch up; I couldn't have gone one step harder!

At the finish line I did my ususal... "how far was that" to try to validate I wasn't as slow as I thought I was. The runner technology was all over the map. Some said 10.45k and some said 10.7k. I decided to settle on 10.5k and somewhat validated it with a trip to google pedometer.

The stupid thing was, I went into this race with no expecations. I wasn't 10k ready... I hadn't built to this race or done a proper taper, so what the heck was I expecting? It hurt... it's done... and as soon as I find another "cheap" one I'll probably sign up again.

What did I learn if I'm willing to pay to put myself through this torturous adventure in the not too distant future? Apparantely not much! Maybe next one won't hurt quite so much, and maybe it'll be a bit faster! I can dream anyway.

Congrats Tracey, Karen, Christine and Kelly for a job well done! Thanks Pete for slogging it out with me! I hope your foot is OK today.

Have a great day!

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