12/3/05: Pearland 10 Miler Race Report!

After getting a great night of sleep, I felt ready for this race when I got up at 4:30 in the morning! I went about getting ready at a relaxed pace, but I definetely felt a sense of urgency in my step. Wes came with me and drove me since I told him I didn't know how I would feel like when the race was over. After all, it was ONLYYYY about 70 degrees by the time I got in the car at 5:45am! Humidity-100%. Horrible, oh well, I drank a ton of gatorade in the car.

When I got the race site, I discovered it was a 1/2 mile walk/run to the starting line. I was patient though, so I walked the entire way and was able to catch up with Strider Barry before we got the registration. The unfortunate thing is that when we got to the race start, nothing was set-up. It was 6:30 at this point and nothing was ready to go. Maybe a bad sign I wondered, there was no way the race would start on time, for sure? I simply relaxed though, did a little warmup jog, and by 7:05, had my race number, chip, and jingle bell (of course!) and was ready to go. Chatted with Jon, and met Edwin, Lance, and Steve before we lined up for the informal-feeling start and before I even heard someone say "GO!" I lunged forward, already behind the pack.

The weather was definetley a factor, but more importantly, the stupid concrete was already doing a number on my legs by mile 2. I ran the first 2 miles with Jon, which seemed to be a saving grace, since it took my mind off of so many little trival things that were bothering me as the race got going. We chatted for a while before I said goodbye at the mile 2 waterstop. I had my Camelbak so luckily, I ran the entire race without stopping, other then to pick up my dropped towel at mile 5.

I felt the heat/humidity affect me slightly, but there was enough of a cool breeze to cool me off. With such a small race crowd, (only about 110 runners), I ran most of the race alone. There were two women in front of me from about mile 2-9 though that I tried to catch up with and actually passed once. However, their pace was about a 9:00/mile and I knew I wouldn't be able to catch them and by mile 8 they really took off. Oh well, they sure gave me a great surge of energy when I mostly needed it.

I came in 2nd in my age group and was mostly pleased with my efforts, especially considering that I had ran 13 miles on Monday and ONLY a 3 second/mile faster pace. I think I have figured out what seems to be a good pace for the Half. But, my mind still slips to the 8.4k a few short weeks ago when I ran at a 8:58/mile pace. THAT FELT GOOD! But, it couldn't have been a fluke. Or was it? I haven't ran that pace again in my training runs. Maybe I just need to push myself more in my runs the next few weeks. Next weekend is RTW #143, so I can work on my speed, and then there are a few more long runs for me (and one of them in Las Vegas during Christmas!) to get a good feel for my Half pace. I just have to keep on working hard...

The STATS:
10 miles
1:34:00 total running

ave 9:24/mile
2nd in the 24-29 age group

mile1:9:18
mile2: 9:46
mile3: 9:37
mile4: 9:46
mile5: 9:19
mile6: 9:14
mile7: 9:27
mile8: 9:06
mile9: 9:36
mile10: 8:44

Heart-rate: 171 ave/188 max

Weather: lower 70's. 100% humidity at race start.