The 5K and 10K followed the same out and back course but the 10K people just went further before their turn-around. Because of this, it was pretty crowded until things spread out. I knew what pace I wanted to maintain and my plan was to stick to it until the turn around where I allowed myself to go faster if I was feeling good. I passed a LOT of people as we approached the half-way point. The return trip, I tried to focus on even breathing and keeping my feet fast and light. My HR was definitely getting up there by the end. I admit to watching everyone ahead of me (after the turn around) and since I didn't know ages, in my mind, my goal was to not let anyone larger than me to beat me. There was one woman who was about my size or a bit bigger ahead of me, so she was my rabbit. I'm happy to report that I was able to pass her about 50y from the finish line! Unfortunately, I forgot to stop my own watch until they were cutting the timing chip off my shoe. As it turns out, they didn't get an official time for me at all! I got contacted by the race director this evening - my chip registered a start, but no finish time. By looking at the list of finishers, I was actually able to figure it out. A couple was having some issues at the finish line and I remember passing them as I came in. I was right behind one girl, in front of another and all three of us were in front of the couple. That means my time was between 29:03 and 29:08 (the finish times of the two other women). So I am guessing my time at 29:05! Not bad for a slow girl!

I felt damn close to totally spent by the end. I did sprint to the finish a bit and I'm sure I could have sprinted faster had it been required of me ;-). I did feel like at my pace (prior to the sprint) I could have gone further, so that makes me feel pretty confident. I do think that I need to step up the intensity of my training runs though. Enough LSD...now I need some tempo!

I mostly walked around a bit and then found my friends husband to chat with him as we waited for her to finish (she ran the 10K). I waited to see the posted results but they only posted 1-40 before I had to leave. I'm glad I didn't wait any longer as I wouldn't have seen my time anyway!


I'm a little disappointed by the lack of official time, but overall it was a well run event.