Rudolph's Revenge 10k

Today I raced the last race of my fall training program, and it went well. I went in with very little expectation. I haven't been following a structured program since the Colder Boulder and my run yesterday felt slow and stiff. And I'm starting to feel like something has to go wrong during every race. Today my headphones crapped out on me and I didn't have music. It didn't bother me as much as I thought it would, though without music you get to hear everyone breathing around you.

I took the first mile easy, mostly messing around with my ipod, trying to verify it was indeed the headphones. I think this was key, not going out crazy like I did in the Colder Boulder. Then I tried to keep it smooth and easy for the 1st 5k. The course was hillier than I expected and there was a nasty little hill at the turn around point.

My mile splits ended up being 9:00, 8:56, 9:04, 8:58, 8:50, 8:55. My first 5k was 28:18 and the second was 27:15, which may be the first time in history that I've managed negative splits. I spent the last mile trying to catch a chick wearing a red footy sleeper and she out-sprinted me in the end. I might have told her, "Damn you" at the end. In a very friendly way. And even though we had timing chips, there wasn't a starting mat and I was a bit in the back (as usual). So my watch time was 55:33 (for 6.24 miles and an 8:54 pace) and my official time was 55:56 with a 9:02 pace. There were over 900 finishers in both the 5 and 10k and a mass start, you so can see how it would be hard to get a completely accurate time.

So next up is the Canyonlands 1/2 marathon on March 20th. It's a race I didn't even know I really wanted to do until I found out it was a lotto entry. And then of course I had to get in. I'll be racing with Becky, Laura and TriBabe Rachel in Moab, it's going to be a blast! In the meanwhile, I'm going to take the next 10 days off from running. Completely. And just the fact that it's freaking me out so much proves that it's time. When I come back in January, I can concentrate on the 1/2 training.