race report? aron you never said you were running a race!
no, no i didn’t.
i wasn’t sure if i was going to run this race or not. i ran it last year and thought it was a good training run for CIM, plus its a fun little race, but i just wasn’t sure if i was in the mood or not. i haven’t felt great about my short distance speed lately and didn’t want a race to mess with me mentally about my CIM goals.
after chatting with amy earlier in the week, i convinced her to show up again (we ran it together last year too), so i knew it would be a fun way to see my friend and to run in a different spot so i signed up.
when i woke up saturday morning i wanted to do anything but run a 10k race (not the way to start off a race morning). i whined to chris how i didn’t want to go, but i got dressed and got in the car and went, knowing i was meeting amy there. i was secretly hoping my car wouldn’t start so i would have a good excuse, but nope things came together very easily that morning.
i arrived in davis sooner than i anticipated after driving through some serious downpours. i was hoping they were stay on the bay side and not move east towards davis until after the race. a few minutes later amy was there and parked right in front of me. we made our way over to the tents where i got my bib and chip and we stood there shivering – it was cold and rainy!
after we watched the 5k start we warmed up by running a couple miles. we made it back to the 10k start with 5 minutes to spare and squeezed in towards the front where i got recognized by a reader! she stopped and talked to me for a minute which made me happy, i love meeting readers!!
i had no idea what i was doing, i said “i didn’t feel like finding my puke threshold today” which also could be interpreted as “i am not all-out-racing this 10k” because i have found to all-out-race a 10k, you find that puke threshold or at least pretty close. i figured i would at least give it a good tempo shot and just get it over with!
we start out in the neighborhoods of davis and after a couple miles end up on the path through the parks. it’s a really pretty little race and i was trying to enjoy myself. my pace was pretty good through the first couple miles but half way through mile 4 i got a really bad side cramp that wouldn’t go away. when i tried to go faster it got worse, so i just told myself to slow down a little to try and make it go away.
i was running in capri tights, long sleeves and gloves and had thought about tossing my gloves around mile 2 since i was getting warm, but during the last couple miles i was so glad i had them on because it was getting colder! we were running into the cold rainy headwind now and i was getting colder as i went.
i had hoped this side cramp would go away so i could pick it up for the last mile but no such luck. i had even worse luck that the wind was coming straight at me and i felt like i was running in place for the last .5 mile stretch. eventually the finish line was close enough to see and eventually i crossed it. not thrilled with my results but happy to be done.
6.2 miles/47:29/7:40 avg pace
overall: 166/1046
age group: 6/108
overall, a good tempo effort despite the side cramp and wind and rain.
i waited for amy to finish up her jog and then we jogged back to the car to change into warmer clothes. we then strutted through the beautiful fall streets of davis in our atrocious highly fashionable uggs and running tights to get some yummy food. we proceeded to talk for almost 2 hours about all sorts of things, running included of course.
this made this day worth it and i ended up being so glad i went after all.
Sounds like it turned out to be a great day! Social/coffee/food time after the race is always the bets part.
Sounds like pretty miserable conditions at the end of the race. Ick! You still pulled off a great 10K time so congrats!!
great job! i hate the rain so i'd likely have skipped out. you, my dear, are one tough cookie
hahahah to the "puke threshold" comment. that sounds like something i'd say.
Ugh. Cold and rainy is the worst. But great time despite the weather! As for "puke threshold"… I'm so stealing that phrase. I think we all know exactly what you mean.
Quite the speedy 10K for you even if it wasn't quite at the puke threshold. It's less messy that way anyway.
A good tempo run is what you needed at this stage in the game:)
Nice job on the rainy and cold 10k! Sounds like a good day!
Ｗｅｌｌ ｄｏｎｅ． Ｇｏｏｄ ｅｆｆｏｒｔ．
Great job! Wow, you are fast
Nice job on the surprise race!!! Tell Jess she needs a blog so I can stalk her daily life too!! Here is to a better week than last! Catch up with you soon! xoxo
Nice run. That's a great 10K.
Nice job…especially with the conditions and the wishing-my-car-won't-start beginning.
I think your results are super. I wish I could run so "bad".
I was laughing as I read the first part of your post regarding not wanting to go and wishing diff. things would happen so you'd miss the race. I am SO that way some race days. It's funny..so WHY do we do it???
Anyway – you did super. Great race.
WOW, great results for such a tough day! Now you have the bad running dau out of your way and all will go great at CIM!!!
HA! I love the puke threshold comment. So True.
But, good work getting out there and getting it done anyway!
That stinks about the side cramp – I know the feeling though and it is no fun! Probably one of the worst feelings while running. Glad you had fun after wards though!
Sounds like a great tempo run, especially with a side cramp. Hanging out after definitely makes up for all the dreading beforehand; LOL about wishing your car wouldn't start
I actually run better in the cold because I just want it to be over! Way to go for a great race!
6 of 108?!? Solid race. Great job approaching the puke threshold!