Cleveland 10 Miler Race Report

The weather has been a bit odd here lately. It figures that they were calling for rain, clouds, and wind this morning. Fortunately it was around 55* so it was comfortable to run the race in shorts and a long-sleeve shirt. I headed over to Marilyn's around 7:15 , her husband took a quick before picture and we headed to Edgewater Park for our 10 mile race.

Going into the race I was hoping to break 1:25 which would put me right around 8:30/mile. We got to the park and headed to the pavilion so I could check my bag and we could use the restrooms. Shortly after 8:30 we were off. I had to do quite a bit of weaving to get out of the pack that had formed at the start line. I hit the first mile marker in 8:23 and I thought okay perfect I have a few seconds to play with based on my goal pace. Then something happened in a race that has never happened to me...I hit mile 2 and my split is 8:23. Wow, I found it a little odd but was happy with it since I was still on pace to reach my goal. Right after mile 2 there were a lot of spectators and I guess that motivated me because I hit mile 3 with a split of 8:16. After mile 3, I would take a quick look at my splits but didn't memorize them and since I have no idea how to retrieve that information from my Garmin FR60 I can't tell you what the rest of my splits were. What I can tell you is I had several more 8:23 splits because I remember thinking it was a little strange but hey it was working. I did run a few splits slower than 8:23 and a couple more faster than 8:23 over the course of 10 miles. From approximatley mile 7 on, I was playing leap frog with another woman. Around mile 8 she looked at me and said good job. I responded with a you too. We rounded the corner and hit mile 9 and then it was long steady strides for the final mile. One of my co-workers/friends was at the finish line and she was yelling at me to finish strong and telling me I was looking good! That gave me the boost I needed and I crossed the line in 1:21:34 (chip time). Definitely under 1:25 and a new 10 mile PR. The last time I ran a 10 mile race I was 16 and I finished in 1:23:28. After I received my finisher's medal I headed to the tent to retrieve my bag and grab some post-race fuel and I then found Kerry and Danielle (coworkers of mine) and of course took advantage of another photo-op!

Kerry (on the left) had to leave to go to a bridal shower so Danielle (on the right) and I stood at the finish line to wait for Marilyn and Kristin (a friend of Danielle's) to finish the race. Right around 1:44 I saw Marilyn approaching the finish line and snapped her picture. As you can see she was very focused on finishing! She wanted to break 1:50 and she finished in 1:45! Way to go Marilyn!!

I headed back into the pavilion to find Marilyn and we of course had to get our post-race picture taken!

The one interesting thing about the race was the fact that there was also a relay option (each person would run 5 miles). I think it is a great idea and would be a lot of fun to do sometime. Fresh runners tagging in at mile 5 made me feel like I was really slowing down. Before I psyched myself out, I quickly reminded myself that I had been running for 5 miles and they were just starting.

I feel like I ran a very consistent race. In fact, the race results seem to verify my consistency.

First 5 miles

40:49:76 (8: 10/mile)

Second 5 miles

40:44:27 (8:09/mile)

Official chip time

1:21:34 (8:09/mile)

One week from tomorrow Cuz Michele and I will be running the Pittsburgh 1/2 Marathon and I am hoping I will be able to maintain a relatively similar pace. Only time will tell since today's race was pretty flat and there will be some hills in Pittsburgh.

Keep running, you're simply the best, and you inspire me!!