Chattahoochee Road Runners 10k

Just a quick recap on my 10 this past weekend. A couple of weeks ago I sent an email to my coach asking if I should have a road race on the schedule:

Would it be a good idea for me to do a road race this winter/spring? a 1/2 marathon or marathon? or a 10k?

her answer was

YES...10lk is perfect in winter and even a 1/2...no marathon though :)

I decided on the Chattahoochee Road Runners 10k. I thought when I signed up for the race that the course was hilly. but when I talked to the folks at Big Peach (where I tried to register for the race), they said the last half mile was all down hill. Really? Well that sounds nice... kind of like a 5.5 mile race instead of 6.2.

I say "tried to register" because when I went into Big Peach on the last day of registration (according to the website and race flyer) I was informed that the packets had already been picked up and that I would have to register at packet pickup tomorrow. The folks at Big Peach were (of course) awesome about it, apologizing for the inconvenience. I appreciated the gesture but really, how can you be upset with these guys? They are provided a convenience for local runners by taking race registrations at the store. I love the Big Peach folks!

So the next day I drove all the way down to Sandy Springs (this is actually pretty far out of the way for me) to register for the race (no race day registration). I explained at the registration table that I had tried to register at Big Peach the day before. They were VERY cool about it. Apologized for my inconvenience and didn't charge me the extra $5 for "late registration". Which was about all they could do and again, I appreciated the gesture.

I checked the weather on Friday and it called for rain all day Saturday. I have to admit, this made me happy. I love love love racing in the rain. There is just something about it that makes me excited to race. My coach told me to take the first 3 miles out at 7:00/mi pace and then see what I had at the turnaround.

Race morning was without incident. The race was late so I had time in the morning to putter around and reduce my nerves.

Breakfast about 3 hours before race was peanut butter and honey on toast. Then on the way to the race (about 1.5 hrs pre race) I drank First Endurance Ultragen - 1 scoop in about 10oz of water.

At the parking lot, I found the portalets and then did some of the Core Performance warm up exercises in the back of the car (LOVE THE ACADIA - so much room!!). About 30 min pre race I took some First Endurance PreRace and headed out on a warm up run. I mix 1 scoop of PreRace in about 5oz of First Endurance EFS and down it (it really tastes awful but is totally worth it). I timed it to show up at race start with 3 min to race. I tucked my short little self amongst all those tall runners and was completely blocked from the cold wind.

The start of the race is downhill and people really took off. When I looked at the watch and saw I was running a 6:15 pace I backed off a little. I settled into the same pace as a guy from the UGA tri club. I kept it right around 6:55 pace and felt really good at that pace. I even joked with the UGA kid as he got heckled by the high school girls handing out water. ha ha Apparently he was very good looking to high school X-country/track girls. ha ha The course is out and back and perfectly rolling. Never flat but never steep either. a good pacing course.

Around mile 4 my pacing companion switched it into the next gear. I tried to go with him and found my legs just didn't have that next level. As he got farther and farther away from me I started to feel despondent and wanted to slow down as it started to hurt. then I thought about the fact that I would be pacing my friend Jason in his 100 mile run that evening, and how could I tell him to suck it up and finish 100 if I couldn't even suck it up to finish 2! So I tried to get myself to relax and just keep pushing. Then that last .5 mile was really almost all downhill.



As I took the last turn I saw the timing clock and saw 42:40 and thought oh boy I have to go under 43! so I ran downhill like I was being chased and crossed the line at 42:51!

Photos from TrueSpeedPhoto.com

I almost fell into the water people. I don't think they really knew what to do with me. ha ha

The 42:51 was a new PR for me (by about 1:30) from February of last year. So it was a good day for me. Most importantly though, I felt like a ran a strong race mentally. I'm not disappointed that the leg speed wasn't there to kick it in at the end. I haven't been doing much top end speed work and while it would have been great to speed up, I was more excited that I didn't get mentally down out there when I couldn't.

Big Thanks to First Endurance for their great products. I love using the Pre-Race product, my legs are always ready for me when I need them!! and since I started using Ultragen as a pre race breakfast I've never experienced GI issues in a race.

So now of course I'm going to go for a sub 42:00 10k, but I'll leave that for next winter. Now I'm looking forward to John Tanner sprint and testing my new swim technique in race conditions.

Happy Racing and Safe Training to all!

Oh, and it was icing on the cake to place 11th overall and 3rd in my AG! I like placing in run races, we triathletes aren't so bad at the single sports after all.