Race Recap: Run Cbus 10 miler: 1:09:05

So I LOVE the 10 mile distance. If I’m going out for a regular run, 10 miles is where my happy place lies. I’m not quite sure the reasoning for this, but I roll with it. In central Ohio there aren’t many opportunities for 10 mile races. In fact, the last time I raced a 10 miler was July 2008! I was so pumped to find out about the Run Cbus 10 miler and was excited to see what I could do.

I wanted to aim for sub 1:10:00. I knew I could do it, but the course was rumored to be rather hilly, especially in the last few miles.  After messaging back and forth with Dave P.  via Dailymile, we decided going into today’s race that sub 1:10:00 was on the radar. I didn’t care if 1:09:59 was what I achieved, I just wanted under 1:10. Dave and I started the race together and we tried to keep a chill pace but still was well under 7 minute pace from the beginning. I have to admit I’ve never really tried to pace off another person before, so I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out. One of my major weaknesses is consistent splits, so that was another goal for the day. The course was surprisingly hilly and thanks to Dave I locked into a smart pace from the start. Dave charged up each incline with authority, and then I would catch back up to him on the descent. At some point in the 6th mile we hit another downhill and Dave shouted for me to keep up the pace from my descent and not let him catch up to me. It was seriously the best motivation anyone could offer me, it gave me something to focus on and took my mind off the pain of the hills that were to come. I just focused on putting one foot in front of the other and didn’t let myself back off the pace. After enduring the final 2 miles of a steady incline, I managed to cross the finish line with a little bit of a kick and broke the 1:10 barrier! Thank you Dave for running with me more than half the race and encouraging me to keep pushing hard to the finish!

My final time resulted in 1:09:05,  6:55 pace per mile!!!!! I came in fourth overall for females and 1st in my age group. Not too shabby if you ask me, especially when the women who crossed the finish line before me are on some of the local running stores’ race teams and are sick fast. The winner is actually my physical therapist and she rolled through in a cool 1:01:29, good grief.

So lessons learned from Sunday’s race?

• I need to incorporate some hill workouts back into my regular routine so I don’t suck so much wind on inclines.
• Columbus does indeed have some hills.
• Pacing off of another person is challenging but effective.
• Aiming to have fun will result in PRs.
• I still love the 10 mile distance.

Now it’s time for a more chill week of training as I gear up for the Earth Day Challenge Half Marathon this coming Sunday!!

Post race refuel and storytelling time.

 

A special shout-out to Mommaberries & Brothaman who came out to support while the Mr. was out on the links!

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