Well I did decide to run the Baltimore 10 miler. It may not have been the best decision, but I was not about to let another $60 in race fees go down the toilet. Despite having a not so great time the experience wasn’t over horrible and I would highly consider doing this race next year.
Race recap:
Mile 1: My goal was to sort of follow one of the pace groups, but not get too concerned if I fell behind. At one point I was trailing the 1:20 pace sign and the next minute they were gone. I didn’t know if I had passed them or what was going on. I’m also not completely used to having a garmin, so I never really thought to check my pace. First mile came in at 7:26…at this point I realized I was in trouble.
 |
| Start of the race near 1:20 pace guy |
Mile 2: I was trying to shake off the fast start by saying “it was downhill you feel really good just slow down a bit and you will be fine”. The self talk was relatively positive…a big surprise at this point. When my watch buzzed at the mile 2 marker I looked down and saw 7:51.
Mile 3-4: I knew that I probably saw the last of 7/min miles after mile 2 and made the judgment at that point to walk through the water stations. I was sweating really bad and figured it didn’t make sense to only get about a ¼ of the water in the cup in my body. Mile 3: 8:02 Mile 4: 8:30
Mile 5: Soo right at the start of mile 5 I figured I would stop near the water station and also use a port o potty. I knew this race wasn’t going to go as planned, but that was ok. Anyways, nobody got out of a port o potty in the minute that I stopped, so I took a gu and moved on. I didn’t really HAVE to go, but I wanted to and I found this experience to kill any decent self talk I had. This race wasn’t going to plan and as I started running again I caught up with the soon to be Mrs. Running with Scorpions…she felt a lot better than I did at this portion of the race and since she always looks better anyways I realized I was going to lose to her. I was thankful that in the races since my first one that I have never rubbed in the fact that I’m faster than her. Mile 5 was still 8:55.
Mile 6: More walking, bad mindset… Mile 6: 8:40
Mile 7: What happened at mile 7 is beyond me. It’s worth mentioning that throughout the race my foot didn’t hurt too much until the near end, but it did hurt on and off. Also, my race was defined by my foot problems, muscle tightness, and my breathing. At any time one of these things felt good the other two would be an issue…except for mile 7. Mile 7 was 8:15 I felt the best I did the whole race. It was followed by the worst 3 miles in a long time…but I didn’t know that was coming. Perhaps, it was the effects of the gu kicking in from mile 5? Hard to say.
Mile 8-Mile 9: Ouch. My foot pain was really starting to increase…when it did I forced myself to walk…not like this was a tough decision. I knew at this point I’ve had training runs at a faster pace and my splits for both half marathons at the 10 mile point were going to be faster than this outcome. Mile 8: 8:43 and Mile 9: 10:13 (yep, that’s not a typo…lots and lots of walking…I ate some humble pie watching some larger participants fly right by me and I could do nothing…it’s also worth noting I wasn’t the best of sports doing this either. I really should have cheered these people on. I got a couple of “hang in there”’s from other people running and next time will try to reciprocate that.
Mile 10: Mile 10 was horrible. Really the only portion of the race I would change is this stupid loop in mile 10. You really can’t see the finish line until you are done and out of this loop and to be honest with 1 mile left all I wanted to do was see the finish line. Had I seen a finish line it’s possible I could have done a little better. Also, worth noting at the mile 9 marker the 1:25 pace group was making its way behind me…so a bunch of those people passed me by. With about .15 left in the race I could see the finish line. I felt like crap, but I noticed some shadows creeping up and I had already picked it up a little myself. I had no problem with someone passing me for the first 9.9 miles of this race…but I was not about to let this happen on the last .1, so I basically kicked it into gear and nobody passed me at the end. I was pretty pissed that I had to use that amount of effort at the end, but what can you do. Garmin had my pace on that stretch at about 5:55-6:05.
 |
| Beer....we like that! |
Post Race: I really didn’t want to talk to anyone for the first 10 minutes after the race…what I did do was eat watermelon nonstop. It was actually probably quite a sight. The watermelon wasn’t the best watermelon, but it tasted like sugar water…in food form…which was surprisingly what I wanted at that moment. After eating about 6 slices of watermelon…I preceded to pick up the race premium (annoying it was not at the packet pickup, but not a big deal)…then proceeded to the beer tent. I would have to say I liked the fact they gave you two free beers and to buy extras was only $3. We caught up with some friends after the race and there was a live band. Overall a good event, but I wish I was more trained and my foot felt better. Although it feels pretty good today…hopefully not too much longer until I’m back to 100%. No races scheduled until the Providence Half Marathon in August.
Overall 1058 out of 4750
Gender: 722 out of 2082
Division: 125 out of 335
Getting back into running after a 5-6 week break seems harder than it was to start running after 10 years of not running. The Baltimore 10 Miler was certainly a challenge and the picture below confirms how I thought I looked for the last 3 miles or so. I'm hoping to regain some level of fitness over the next couple of weeks. Each run seems like it's a little bit easier. I've been contemplating running in the Pikesville 5K in July. I've mapped out my long run plan for the Providence half marathon in August. 
){kind=link}
){kind=link}