Feel Like Running Some Hills? Texas Round-Up race report

Official Results
Finish time: 44:27, 7:10 pace.
1st in age group (out of 86 women)
10th woman overall (out of 484 women)
67th runner overall (out of 1,001 runners)

The 10k (6.2 miles) is not my favorite race distance. I like it because it's not quite the lung- and leg-burning effort as the 5k (3.1 miles), but still it's not long enough to really get into a groove and run at a comfortable pace. In other words, you don't have to run as hard as in a 5k, but the hard running lasts for twice the distance. The first 3 miles are fine. I love the first 3 miles. I always feel strong and like I could run at that pace forever. It's the last 3 miles that are the problem! By that point, my legs are tired and I'm ready to slow down or quit, but there are still about 3 more miles to go.

My last 10k was in October, on a flat course. I had been doing (almost) weekly speed work at the track all summer, running about 35 miles per week, and finished the race in 43:07, which was a PR by over 2 minutes. Since the marathon I ran in February (2010), I have done speed work exactly 3 times -- once at the track alone, twice at the trail with a group of runners -- and my running mileage has topped out at 18 miles per week. But I've also been swimming laps 3 times per week, which I think has helped my fitness. I've been feeling faster and stronger on my runs, so I signed up for a 10k, partly to see how slow/fast I've gotten, and partly to see if I could PR again.

I chose the Texas Roundup 10k. Why? Because the timing was right. But . . . it's a hilly course. See how hilly? (blue = 5k, red = 10k)









And it was very hilly to me, because I'm used to mainly running on flat roads and trails. I haven't done any hill sprints or hill repeats or hill intervals or hill anything in over a year. Oh yes. The hills definitely got to me this morning.


We woke up early and I was pumped and ready to run fast. See that scary look in my eyes? That's determination. Or too much coffee, perhaps?



















Oliver and Buttercup ate their breakfast on the way downtown. Oliver was adamant about bringing his binoculars along so he could look through them and watch me running. Such a cutie. I just love these kids!





































Going into the race, I had a plan of averaging 6:45 min/miles for a 41:30 finish. I would run 6:45s on the flat parts, 7:00/7:15s on the uphills, and make up for lost time on the downhills. Sounds perfect, right?

The end result? I managed 6:40-6:50 pace on the flats, 6:10-6:20 pace on the downhills, and 8:30-9:00 pace on the steep uphills. OUCH.

What did I learn from this race?
- that I need to start doing some hill workouts;
- that I should probably be more consistent with speed workouts, too;
- that, surprisingly, I do have some self control and I was able to not go out too fast with the pack of 5k runners (this was a huge deal for me, because I have a major tendency to get caught up in the adrenaline rush and go out too fast!);
- that I might be capable of running a 6:45 pace 10k on a FLAT course.

All in all, I'm very pleased with the race from this morning. I ran relatively even splits (if you factor in the hills), I didn't go out too fast, and I finished feeling strong but that I gave it all I had. And -- even though I ended up almost 3 minutes over my goal time -- I still ran my 2nd fastest 10k road race this morning.

And the best part? My prayer was to run it to the best of my ability, have fun with it, and just enjoy the gift that God has given me. And that is exactly what happened. Praise His name! :-)

Official finish time: 44:27, 7:10 pace.
Splits:
- mile 1: 7:06
- mile 2: 6:38
- mile 3: 7:21
- mile 4: 6:59
- miles 5 and 6: 7:21 average (I was apparently working too hard going up another hill and didn't notice when I passed the mile 5 marker)
- final 0.21: 7:00


"Mom, I looked for you with my binoculars, but I couldn't see you." "Can you see me now?" "YES!"




























Will I run this race again? Hmmm, maybe. But only if I do some hill training first. :-)