This past Saturday I completed the Bluemont Shamrock 10k! As with most races, the day started bright and early at 6am with waking up and rounding together the kids, packing the car, and heading to the start line. Thankfully, the night before Karen and I got to bed early and got a nice long nights rest (even though mine was NyQuil induced slumber due to a nasty little cold I’m fighting). Mother nature was not on my side for the race as it started spitting 25 minutes prior to the start and was lightly raining and cloudy the entire race. The cold, the weather, and the course all led me to believe that I would not achieve my stated goal of running this is less than 1 hour.
I typically will wear shorts for almost any race as it is the most comfortable and then I will not overheat, well I changed that up for this race and wore my sweatpants, and two long sleeve shirts, and gloves. After about a half mile into the race I regretted this decision. At first I could not tell if it was rain or sweat dripping from me, but I knew I was over-heating. I lost the gloves but decided that stopping to undress was a bad idea and just dredged on. Using runkeeper, I soon learned that my first mile pace was around 8:20 which is right where I wanted to be. I found a runner who was running a similar pace and stuck with her throughout the entire race. I can say I have never had a more perfect pacer in any race I’ve ever run. She was almost exactly where I needed her to be, any faster and I would have zonked, any slower and I would have been forced to pass her. Thankfully, there were few hills on the course but it was almost entirely gravel road. I ended the race fairly strong but with blisters on my feet and a time of 52:15. Almost 8 minutes under my goal time and finally in the top half of my age group!
But I could not help but shake the thought of how difficult this distance will be AFTER swimming a mile and then biking 30ish miles. Good Grief! What did I sign up for!
As I had mentioned in a previous post, I have done next to nothing when it comes to terms of running work to this point, I have simply been using my CrossFit with a little bit of extra rowing here and there to condition my lungs. Well, after this race that may need to change, breathing wise I felt fantastic..but my legs just ached the entire time. My skeleton is just not ready to handle the actual long distance races. I do think I could hold an 8:30 pace for the next big test…the 10 miler. I had previously set a desired time of 1:35:00 but that was for the very flat broad street run, now that we’re completing the Baltimore 10 miler I am a bit concerned about hills. I will set a goal time of 1 hour 40 minutes (10 minute mile pace) as my previous time on a 10 miler is 1 hour 58 minutes. Though, if I do manage to condition myself I do not see why an hour and a half is not reachable.
After the race, we had a little bit of time with the family. Took a quick stroll around Great Country Farms (one of our families favorite places) and let the kids see the animals. Due to the weather, we had to skip out on a visit to Dirt Farm Brewery but we will be back several times this summer as it is such a great place and some decent beers too!
Next up in the “YEAR OF CARDIO” is Digital Mustards 10k! I can’t wait to see how well she does, I know she can get sub 9 minute miles on it! I’m actually starting to get concerned she is going to beat me on the 10 miler and the half!
5k – REHAU Rotary Resolution Race – January 1 – Leesburg, VA – Time: 25:24 (8:11)
8k – 2016 DCRRC Langley 8K – February 6 – Langley, VA – Time 41:28 (8:20)
10k – Bluemont Shamrock 10k – March 19 – Bluemont, VA – Time: 52:15 (8:26)
10 mile – Baltimore 10 miler – June 4 – Baltimore, MD
Triathlon – Nations Tri – September 11 – Washington, DC
Bike MS – City to Shore 2016 – September 24-25 – Cherry Hill to Ocean City, NJ
Half Marathon – Brooklyn Rock ‘n Roll Half – October 8 – Brooklyn, NY
Marathon – Philadelphia Marathon – November 20 – Philadelphia, PA
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