It was a very cold morning and I missed matching my previous 10K PR by 8 secs/mile. It’s hard to believe I actually ran this course at a 7:44 pace 2 years ago and placed second in my age group.
This was definitely a fast group and it seems I really am slowing down! I think the only reason why I managed to pull off a sub-8 pace was because I had been counting the number of women ahead of me (a distraction from huffing and puffing) and I was calculating where I might place overall (women) and, with only a mile or so left in the run, a pack of 5 gals passed me. Based on my current count, I would slip out of the top 20 if I came in after all of them! I made a spontaneous stretch goal to try to make it ahead of them. The gals kept pretty close pace, but I am lucky that I don’t seem to have issues with downhills so I was able to accelerate and keep ahead of them. Despite that, I came in 21st!
Anyway, I love this run. It is truly a gorgeous course and it’s home. Afterwards, I did a very slow 5.9 miles to hit 12 miles for the day (marathon training distance run target for the week).
Results:
Division (10K): 49 of 562 (8.7%)
All Women: 21 of 359 (5.8%)
Age Group (40-49): 7 of 100 (7%)
Elapsed Time: 48:48
Pace: 7:52 min/mi