10K PR at the Firecracker

RUN 6.2 miles in 43:13, 6:58m/m pace!
     plus 1 mile WU and 1 mile CD
     8th OA female out of 288, and 4th out of 128 30-39. Really 5th if you count an OA female!

Whoop! I was ripe for a PR since my previous 10K's were either in a triathlon or a long time ago:

April 2008 Track Club 10K 54:13
Oct 2011 Last Try 50:59
May 2011 Gateway Tri 55:26

So a PR today should be cake. It was! TH also PR'd, we joked that a few more weeks like this of PR after PR and our lives would only get harder trying to PR again.

The day was perfect, sunny and low 80's. I had to get up extra early for the long drive out but it was worth it. There's not a lot of 10K races in the area and this fit the schedule perfectly.

I came into the race without a solid goal, but was shooting for 44 mins. I didn't expect to get sub-7, but as the Garmin clocked the miles I kept seeing sub-7 paces coming up. In the first few miles, I thought I went out too fast and would have to dial it in. But that's something I've learned in the past year or two -- that I can go hard and I don't have to dial it back. I pushed the entire way! But got passed in the last half mile by two womens, and I try as I could I didn't catch them. But that's what makes it fun!

Other things that helped -- the WU and CD. I used to think that I'd "waste" energy doing this before a race, but I think I could have had even more WU today. But the congested start line took care of that, I didn't really get to open up until maybe a half mile in.

Great day! Now rest, take a nap, and get ready for tomorrow!!!