I raced this local 10k last year and really enjoyed it, so I decided to go for it again... except this time with higher expectations! I love women's only races because of both the comaraderie and the competition. With over 2,600 finishers in the 5k and 10k combined, this was a decent field of empowering women with some solid talent. Same as last year, I ran this as a 'C' race in the middle of a heavy training block. Because the start line is exactly 3.5 miles from my house, I turn it into a long run (13.2 miles) with some fast running in the middle. Even though I was not even close to fresh for this race, I still hoped to pull out a solid time and finish well. Last year I finished in just over 40 minutes and placed 5th overall. This year, I'm in much better shape and hoped to run my first sub :38 with a top 3 finish.
The day was hot and humid, but that was expected this time of year. I arrived at the race site ~15 minutes before gun time with just enough time for a pit stop, a few strides and some friendly talk with the other girls at the start line. At the sound of the horn, I quickly settled into a comfortably hard pace. Several women were in front of me, but I had no idea who was 5k and who was 10k. About 1 mile in, I found out who went out too hard as I started to catch them. At a little over 2 miles, the 5k and 10k split and there was just 1 girl in front of me. I tucked in behind her for a bit until I started to feel the pace slowing. I wished her a great race as I passed, but that was not the end of her ;) We basically ran side by side for the remainder of the race. If I would drop behind to take advantage of a draft, she would slow the pace. I knew I would lose in a sprint to the finish, so I hoped to get out in front before then. But, she responded to every surge I threw out. This game was alot of fun for me because I've never been a contender to break the tape in a race this size. We had a cyclist leading us just like the motorcycle in front of the lead pack at a marathon. As we rounded the last straighaway, we merged with the mass of 5k finishers. The lead cyclist did his best to clear a path for us, but it was a lost cause. As we sprinted to the finish, we did our best to BOB and WEAVE through the crowd. I gave it all I had, but it was not enough for the win as I crossed the line is 2nd place in a time of 38:33. The winnner, Margaret Connelly, deserved to break the tape. She is a strong runner and I just hope I gave her a good run for her money ;)
I wasn't sure about racing this 10k this year because I was afraid it might interfere with my 1/2 Ironman focus. But, with the go-ahead of Coach Dan, I'm glad I did. Not only was it a heck of a workout... but, it was a BLAST!!
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