Race #144
10k #12
2018 Race #5
2018 10k #1
Reedy River 10k #5

Since I am focusing on marathon training, serious marathon training, all races this training cycle will be run as workouts of some time rather than as actual full out races. Today’s race served as a long run with a strong finishing tempo.

To start the day, Mom drove me downtown so I could start my 60 minutes before the race while she returned back home to pick up Ellis. When I arrived at her house I realized that I had left my bib on the kitchen table at my house so thankfully she had enough time to add a trip to my house to pick up my bib as well.

The easy portion of my run, the pre-race portion, ended up getting shortened by five minutes as I found it difficult to run through the crowd once I returned to Main Street. I will admit that during this extended warm up, I wondered if I would be able to maintain a sub 51 minute pace for the 10k while I ran. I felt sluggish and tired and in the mood to just finish up the run at that pace. Sometime around the halfway point of the warm up, I … warmed up and felt fairly normal on the back half of the run which is likely why my pace increased a little.

Once I got back to Main Street, Mom and Ellis were walking up, a couple minutes away. We reunited and headed for the public bathrooms near where the ice rink is on Main during Winter. Last year these bathrooms were open. This year? Nope. That makes sense for a race in which over 3,000 people are participating. Due to the fact that the start was mere minutes away we ended up getting my bib pinned on and standing in the portopotty line for a couple minutes before foregoing the pit stop. Thankfully, this proved to be a non-issue for both of us.

Right on time we took off. GTC instituted a wave start for the 10k this year. However, since both Mom and I ended up in the first wave I am not sure of how well this process worked. At the very least we had no congestion issues caused by people lining up way too close to the front.

Since we had no issues of that kind, we ended up taking off fast. Fairly soon after that Mom told me that she would likely not be able to keep up with me. Unlike last year, I knew that I needed to run this as a tempo run as part of my training, rather than as an attempt to help her achieve a sub 50 minute time. She told me to run my own pace. I planned on it but encouraged her to keep up with me as long as she could.

That first mile really puts you through the ringer, fast start uphill. Lovely. We made it through the first mile together.

Mile 1: 7:56

When I saw that split I knew that I was right on pace. I entered 50:30 on the pace calculator which gave me an 8:07 average but I changed that to a goal of 8 minute pace. So far, so good.

Mom kept up with me through that first mile and into the second. However, the second mile takes you up the hill beside Fluor Field, another lovely hill. This course does not hold back. I still felt good and continued to silently chant my new mantra, “just show up.” (Yes, this was Desi Linden’s first. I also, a few times, thought “channel your inner Desi.”)

The hill slowed me down but not significantly and we had the lovely downhill on the other side of Fluor Field to give our legs a break.

Mile 2: 8:10

Somewhere before mile 2, Mom dropped back … or I pulled away … and the rest of the race was on my own. Also around the mile marker stood a group of spectators with my new, least favorite, form of noisemaker, plastic clapping hands. They formed a sort of gauntlet that we had to run through with the sound so loud and obnoxious if I had had to endure it any longer, I think it would have given me a headache.

Safely through the clapping tunnel

Mom coming through the clapping tunnel, a little behind me.

Somehow during this mile, which included the “Hill of Death” which leads up to the turn onto McBee, I increased my pace a little. The hill obtained its moniker from the times I have had to run it during the Greenville News Run Downtown 5k when one has to sprint up the hill at a 5k pace less than half a mile from the finish. I felt good and continued to tell myself to “just show up.”

The only other thing I remember from this mile was a girl behind me a little bit shouting “We’re halfway done!” just after the official 3 mile mark. Not only was she slightly wrong but I’m sure she must have felt awkward after because all the runners in the immediate proximity were so quiet, focused.

Mile 3: 7:53

As we headed down McBee, we had a slight uphill to pass where On On Tri used to be and then a significant downhill leading to the turn into Cleveland Park. As we ran down this hill, steep enough to make descent difficult, I remembered Run with the Stoix from 7 years ago when we had to run up that hill three times. I was grateful that we got to run down the hill. I felt the strongest through this mile which was also my fastest, no doubt aided by the significant downhill.

Mile 4: 7:44

Once in the park and onto flatter terrain, the pace felt a little more difficult but not too bad. I kept repeating my mantra although I also started trying to figure out how they would bring us back onto Main Street and out of the park. I knew a significant uphill awaited in the last mile or mile and a half. I just did not know where it would be. (The course changed last year due to construction in the park where the new Cancer Survivors Park is being constructed.)

Mile 5: 7:53

When we passed the point where we headed out of the park last year and up the hill towards the finish, I had a sinking feeling that we would have to run up the hill near the tree with the exposed roots, the one marking where Furman used to be located. I’ve run that hill before and hated it. I knew it would be quite the challenge to keep running there, to keep showing up.

Sure enough, my legs had just about had enough as we started up that hill. Even my mantra was not enough to keep me running up that hill. Looking back, I feel like I gave in too easily at that point, especially since San Francisco is not without its hills, but at the time, I felt like I could not keep running. Not only did we have to exit the park on the uphill but we had another slightly less challenging hill when we turned on the side street that lead to Main Street. As soon as I slowed to walk, another runner ran by and shouted at me to keep running, not to walk. I walked a little then and picked the pace back up. The hill evened out just slightly and then right before we exited the park the incline increased and I walked for a few more steps but just a few steps. I shook out the negative thoughts and told myself that I had less than half mile remaining. I could show up for a half mile.

Mile 6: 8:39

We made the turn onto Main Street and I knew the finish was close. If I had known how close I was to going sub 50, I would have tried to start my sprint, what little I had, just a bit sooner.

Checking my watch to see just how close I was.

As it was, I savored the slight downhill and pushed as hard as my legs could carry me, stopping my Garmin with a time of 50:05 and an official time of 50:03. So close!

.26 7:03
Overall official time: 50:03, my fourth fastest 10k.

After I finished, I started walking back to see if I could get to a spot along the finish to take some pictures of Mom. Unfortunately, she finished faster than I expected in a time of 52:10. She didn’t walk at all!

Mom, finishing strong

I’m pleased with my effort. I also learned where I need more work, tackling those hills, both physically and mentally.

Post-race coffee is always enjoyed, especially when you get an extra drink because someone grabbed yours by mistake. (You take theirs and the one that was supposed to be yours. :D)