This was my first A-10, so I had no idea what to expect. I heard it was a hilly course, but I didn't know exactly where they would fall. I also wasn't aware of the deal at the start. It was a mass start, so it was important to seed youself correctly. I hung back and that was a big mistake. The entire race was a pass-a-thon. A few people passed me at the start, but I must have been near the very back of the crowd because I was weaving in and out of traffic pretty much the entire run. The first two miles were particularly bad - slow down, speed up, left, right, up on the curb. Passed Todd during mile 1 and Bill Wheeler while descending the 450 bridge on our way north.
I had no real expectations for this race. My best 10 mile pace was 6:59 and my best half marathon time was 7:04, but I wasn't sure what I had in me today. First two miles went well. I figured they should have been faster because of all the dodging, but I also worried that the change of speeds would wear on me. I lost track of my splits for a few miles, but knew I was slowing down. I stopped worrying about pace and just raced the people in front of me. This may have been a bit of a mistake because my focus must have waned a bit through the middle miles. Passing people became "good enough". Told myself that I'd push the last three miles. Well, the last three were better, but the hills kept them from being sub 7 as I had hoped. The later hills and the return trip across the bridge were agony. Instead of looking up the length of the bridge, I'd just pick a spot on the pavement and run to it. Pick another spot and run to that. It must have worked because that mile with the bridge was at a decent pace. The final insult was finishing uphill, running off Taylor Ave into the stadium lot. One runner that I passed on Taylor Ave was on my shoulder nearing the finish, so I held him off by sprinting the last 50 yds or so. I was sucking wind and hurting after crossing the finish. I left pretty much everything on the course.


Not much. Possibly better focus during the middle miles. The limiting factors really came in preparation.

Grunted, walked around, drank, ate some bananas. Looked for Todd and Bill Wheeler, possibly anybody else I knew, but it was quite a crowd.


This race was a last minute decision, so it was essentially a C race. I needed to get in some tough workouts in the days leading up to this race (50 mi bike yesterday, 10mi run w/intervals Thurs), so I was far from recovered. I have done very little speedwork this year, as well. Zippo tempo runs. I don't train on hills and it was ridiculously humid. I'm carrying around 10 extra pounds and I'm not getting any younger.


Overall, I was pleased with the results - top 11% AG and it looked like a pretty serious crowd. It was interesting to look up results from the '05 Seaside 10 (1:09:46) because, in that race, my HR was in the mid 160s. Have I simply not done enough threshold work to allow my muscles to function at that HR over an hour+ ?
Not sure if I'll do this one again - it's in August. Maybe for fun, because it's a pretty cool race with decent swag for a reasonable price.