Race report - Cville 10 Miler

Record breaking freakout this week. Clearly, that works for me.

The 10 Miler started extra early this year, due to conflicts with baseball, softball, and lacrosse games that take place in the same area as the start/finish and whose spectators need the roads and parking lots. So it was pretty disorienting to arrive and warm up in the pitch black. I met up with my crew, used the ladies room (it was actually the men's room, but the ladies had taken it over, and only the most courageous of men braved the urinals in there), and fiddled with my layers. It had been forecast to be in the low-mid 30's, but the thermometer on my car read 40 when I pulled in, so I took my chances and went with a short sleeve shirt over long sleeves, ear warmer, and no gloves.

We lined up waaaaaay in the back. And finally, the crowd started to move. My nervous energy was peaking, and it was good to be lined up in the back where I couldn't go out too fast if I tried. I crossed the first half mile in 6 minutes. I picked up the pace a little, and did the first mile in 11:00 flat. I'll admit, it freaked me out to be 45 seconds off my goal pace, but I knew that I could leverage the downhills to make it up.

And leverage I did! I know the course so well now, I know where every turn, every pothole, every downhill is. I can anticipate them, and get ready to turn on the speed. My first chance was around the back side of the stadium, and I surprised myself how fast I was going downhill. I surprised myself even more on the uphill, where I was passing every single person I came to. I didn't even feel like I was working that hard - I was taking Coach Mark's advice and not pushing myself uphill.

About this time, I came across one of the women I ran with occasionally during training. We ran together for a bit, and then I asked her what her goal for today was. She hemmed and hawed about just running to feel good, and then said that when she ran a marathon a few years ago, it was at a 9min/mile pace. I told her about my 10:15 goal, and, as well she should, she pretty well ditched me after that.

Around the stadium, past the AFC, and then the right on McCormick for a long, relatively flat stretch. I knew that I could conserve some energy on this portion, because The Downhill was coming. The biggest, screamingest downhill comes at the end of mile 4/beginning of mile 5. I took full advantage of it. As full as I could, anyway. The crowd was pretty thick, and I had to bob and weave to pass people. I bobbed and weaved so much that I picked up an extra tenth of a mile, per my GPS.

Coming to the uphill at the downtown mall, approaching mile 5, I took a quick look at my watch and my pace chart and realized that I had picked up a lot of time on the downhill. I was well ahead of my 10:15 pace, crossing the halfway point at just a hair over 50 minutes! This was pretty exciting, but I knew the toughest parts of the course were yet to come.

There's great crowd support in the Lexington Ave neighborhood, and there was music and two unofficial but highly organized water stops, and even donut holes if you wanted them. I was in such a great mood that I just floated over the hills. Even knowing the tough hill by the graveyard was ahead didn't dampen my spirits. And then I floated up that hill, too.

Next thing I knew, I was on Water Street, starting the first in a series of tough, late race uphills. Mile 8 and the beginning of mile 9 are grueling. But I hardly felt it. I just put my head down, and up I went, passing people the whole way. Knowing that mile 10 was now a downhill, I knew the pain of 8 and 9 was only temporary.

One last gulp of water before the mile 9 turnaround on McCormick and I was home free. The new finish is spectacular. A long downhill, steep enough to let you open it up and make friends with gravity, but not so steep that you'll wreck your knees. Before I knew it, I was crossing Ivy, and I could see the finish ahead. I broke into a sprint. I did the last tenth of a mile at a 7:32 pace. I don't know where I found it, but it felt great.

Proof: me, just before the finish, sprinting like I've never sprinted before. I don't know what was up with the Comcast van. This is the only picture ever of me running that actually looks like I'm fast! (Thanks, Pete, for the great pic.)


Then in to the chute, hit my watch, and I was done! Coach Mark was taking pictures at the finish and I damn near knocked him over while deafening him with my screeching "I SET A TWELVE MINUTE PR!!"

You heard me, readers. I SET A TWELVE MINUTE PR.

Final chip time: 1:38:30, 9:51 pace. Just one second off my 8K pace, can you believe it?

I got my medal, chatted with friends, grabbed a bagel and an orange slice, and headed home, where I spent the next several hours feeling like I was going to vomit, but not minding because I SET A TWELVE MINUTE PR.