Last Weekend's 10k Recap

I promised Phil or someone a recap of my first 10k from last weekend. This was my first race using a run/walk pace. I ran with a couple of running club members, though one had to drop back due to early shin splint problems. All three of us did finish. We ran a 1/1 interval and did the race in 1:17 and a few seconds I believe. Since that time I was out of town and was guilty of not running much at all this week until this morning.

Mile1: Was all uphill, not a terrible elevation change but none the less moving upward from the start. We were in a big sea of runners and managed to not get run over by starting closer to the back of the "wave". Since I didn't have my Garmin for this run I do not have mile/lap splits.

Mile 2: Was much flatter and took us thru the first of many neighborhood streets in the Nichols Hills area of Oklahoma City. Oh I forgot to mentiont that by race time (2 PM) the temp was near 75 with just a light wind, not bad for that time of day. Later it did feel hot. The run/walk did help my heart rate stay more in my target range, even though I did not officially monitor it I could feel that it was never under any stress.

Mile 3: Flew by and I hardly remember it, again mostly flat with some downhill grade. The homes were spectacular and the residents that were out to cheer us on were great. Several had their own water stations set up and many had their water hoses out to the street with sprinklers attached for the runners to run through to beat the heat.

Mile 4: As I remember had some small hills to it but again were not overally cumbersome. I still feel the run/walk was so helpful in making these hills seem less of a challenge. Somewhere in Mile 4 a port-a-potty manifested itself and I took advantage. My running partner pushed ahead with the agreement from me that I would catch him. I did within 3 interval cycles I believe and I was glad to be back with him. There is just something about a run where you are with friends to carry on a conversation versus running alone.

Mile 5: My partner told me that I could push ahead if I wanted. He had developed some shin splint issues in one leg and thought he was holding me back. Instead I chose to run with him, feeling his pacing was doing me much more good than harm. I so appreciated his presence and was reluctant to move ahead.

Mile 6: Saw the last of our hills that led to a downhill finish. When we were in sight of the finish line I did pull ahead slightly but my partner finished right behind me. It was a great race, we didn't set any speed records but we had a great time and that means more to me than a record at this point.

I have to admit that with a partner the race was over before I realized it. I will be running with the same two next week for the half marathon plus at least one other, and I am so looking forward to it. This isn't the greatest recap but it's late being published and the best that I can do for now.