10K Race Report: Santa Fund Run 10/31/10

10K Race #2: Completed.

The Santa Fund is a charity run by our local newspaper that works "to give area needy children a happy holiday."  Who can argue with that?  The Santa Fund Run is the kickoff to the fundraising season and for the first time I was a participant.

Almost immediately after the first 10K, C suggested we do another.  So just a few weeks later, we arrived at a local high school and lined up on the track for our second race.

I felt incredibly unprepared for this race.  After the first one, back on the 10th, I didn't run for a week.  And then I only half heartedlt trained for the next two weeks, the last few days of which were on the treadmill at the gym I joined (story for another day).  I was nervous and had low expectations of myself.

I had a serious issue deciding what to wear, changing my shirt at the car when we arrived, but it turned out to the be perfect day for some running capris and a long sleeve tech shirt.  This was a much, much bigger race than the Pumpkin Festival.  There were over 500 people running between the 5K and the 10K.  And lining up on the track with all of them was a little overwhelming.  Just getting across the finish line was a challenge, so many people funneling through.

The first mile flew by.  I was running with C, and my college roommate aka Spaz.  We were dodging in and out of people, trying to find a comfortable pace.  For the next few miles the race was on wooded trails along the river, which is really pretty this time of year.  I evened out my pace pretty early and felt strong through a majority of the race.  It helped that it was mostly flat too.

At mile four we ran through a back parking lot in the "millyard" and continued on a paved trail back through the park.  My knees weren't quite ready for that pavement.  There was a slight... and I mean slight and short, decline, and I wasn't totally confident both my knees wouldn't buckle completely.  But they didn't.

Mile five was spent telling myself I did not need to walk and to just keep going.  I followed behind a woman going about the same pace and tried to space out to my music.  At mile 6 my knees wanted to be done. Totally and completely done.  But I was soooo close.

And then Spaz and her boyfriend popped out and started cheering for me. (They had run the 5k). Fine.

I hit the track and gave it everything I had left.

1:02:54.

To refresh your memory, the last one was 1:07:17. That's what... 4 minutes and 22 seconds faster?  Something like that.

Amazing.

C also had a PR (personal record) cutting her time by around 30 seconds.
Spaz had a PR in her 5K, which is also awesome.
Oh, and Spaz's boyfriend won his age group in the 5K.

Yea, he's good.

I had a good time, and surprising felt really good through most of it.  Just have to figure out what to do with these knees... they seem to be acting twice their age, and it's getting old...

Next scheduled challenge? PR the 5K on Thanksgiving.  "Training" to begin as soon as my knees stop aching.