St Patrick's Day 10K - Run10k

The run was good. We started off towards the end of the pack. It took us about 38 seconds to get to the start line once the race started. About 1/4 mile into the race, we split. I ran forward and started passing people towards a better position. I did not have my Garmin with me so I had to estimate my pace. My goal was to start on a slower pace and at mile 3 to start increasing my speed. That was pretty much what I did. At mile mile 3 I started increasing my legs speed. I felt good and knew that I can push it. I would look forward towards a runner which was in front of me and raced him/her till I passed them. Then, on to the next "target". This way, I manged to get to mile 5 running at a pace that I had never ran at before. I had a far fetched dream to finish the race in less than 50:00min. Not sure where this came from. When my watch showed 48:?? minutes, I knew that I will not make it within 50:00min and I was debating whether I should slow down and give up, or push hard till the finish line. My HR was at 98% when I checked it and I was seriously thinking to slow down a bit. Somehow, watching the runners around me, seeing their agony and struggle to run, I heard an inner voice telling me to keep pushing till the very end.

Nothing.

After passing the finish line, catching up my breath and getting my race medal, I heard the announcer saying "here we have some more sub 9:00 minutes/mile finishers..." and then it hit me that I am actually one of them. I suddenly realized that I finished a 10KM race, in a pace which I could never believed was in my ability span. I got really excited about it. I started walking back on the race route till I saw my wife. I then joined her for her last 1/2 mile of the race. She finished in a good pace of 10:01min/mile. She was happy and excited too.


Lots of people on the narrow road of Fiesta Island. At times, it was hard to pass by people, specially, if they ran in groups.


It was a great day, with perfect weather conditions. The race was well organized, routes were well marked and there were plenty of volunteers. At the end, the free pizza, bear and other treats was a lot of fun and I wish we could have stayed a bit longer.