This was not an "A" race so I didn't bother really tapering for it. In fact, I ran a short Tempo run Friday night plus a swim, followed by a 62-mile bike ride in the hot sun (Collin Classic) yesterday. Basically, I knew I would feel a bit tired but it's good since the next time I am likely racing 10K would be at the US Open Olympic Tri.
The biggest issue I had with the race was that the half-marathon was started only 10 minutes ahead of the 10K - which meant that we would catch the half-marathon walkers within half a mile, and then spend the rest of the time getting around and through them for the rest of the race. The paths were pretty narrow (but shaded!) so people walking 5-6 wide made it a challenge. The 5K turn-around point didn't help much as it meant another 2 miles of going against traffic (the walkers and slow runners of the half-marathon, as well as the other 10K people heading for the turn-around, and then finally, the 10K walkers). A few marshalls/volunteers on the path would have helped keep the people going one way and walking on one side - they're not really racing at that point so if they just stayed out of the way, it would be nice.
I am also glad I raced this the way I did, as the last 3 passes I did were all in my AG and were for overall position. I finished 20th and 21-24 were all about 13-20 seconds behind me. I completed the last past for what turned out to be 2nd about half a mile from the finish! I then went for a hard kick (6:11 pace for last 0.4 mile) to make sure that anyone who wanted to pass me would have to be running sub-6:00 pace

As for me, if I wanted a little bit better performance, I would've rested yesterday. Maybe that was worth 30 sec to a minute but otherwise, I felt good about my time as well as my results (2nd out of 74 in my AG and 20th/1173 overall). I also had a 7:55 half-mile split around 4.5 miles in when I couldn't get my electrolyte pills out of the container and walked 3-4 steps to get it. Broke my rhythm and in retrospect, I probably should've taken one at the 5K mark as I started getting side stitches about 4 miles in.

When I crossed the finish line, I was feeling a bit faint so just stood there bent over for about 30 seconds. Finally was able to move and got water, my finisher medal and started walking. Did a short jog then found the free massage and had them work on my hamstrings.


More training - especially some quality/speed training as well as a good rest before the race as I came in tired.


Considering that about 1200 people were doing the 10K and probably about another 1500+ doing the half-marathon, it would've been nice to have volunteers on the course reminding walkers and slower folks (especially the half-marathon) to stay right. 10K races are fought within seconds so all the dodging and slowing up to get around walkers and joggers that are doing the half-marathon on a narrow path wasn't great.