Ramble, rant, and race

It was shaping up to be an excellent week of running and nordic walking but a third workout in the minimalist trail shoes cooled the jets for two days.  I knew within a few steps of running Thursday night that I'd pushed it too far but since it was an away club run and I didn't pack a different pair of trainers I was kind of stuck with it.  It is probably just a bit of bruising from going over some rocky areas and pavement but my left forefoot was killing me on the downhills. The route was gorgeous, mostly off-road and I'm not sure I could find my way around part of it without a guide again--speaking of guides, ours was Colin (Brinsley Runner) from the running club and he did a great job of explaining where we were in relation to various landmarks and even giving us a bit of history, good stuff.  It was getting dark towards the end of the run so it's time to charge up the head torches and unpack the reflective gear (sigh, sure sign of summer being over).

I also managed a pb on the summer course Tuesday night, 5k in 23:20, hoping I can carve that time down to sub 23 on some parkruns soon.  There was no getting lost this time but they started me off with a couple of other runners to make sure it didn't happen again, lol.

Today was the Wilne 10k, I debated skipping it because I wasn't in the mood to race and I wasn't sure how the foot would hold up but went ahead because I didn't want it to be another wasted race entry like back in the spring when I sprained my ankle.  As my usual, I was in the loo queue until the last possible moment and once I got to the start I couldn't be bothered to elbow my way up closer to the front so just started almost in the very back.  I did start my garmin right after we heard the "go" and it took 56.8 seconds to reach the timing mat (at least it had one).  Yes, it is frustrating both to me and the people I'm zig-zagging through when I do that but it also prevents me from jack-rabbiting the first mile (8:00 on the dot by the way).

Once I got into a clear area where I could settle down into a steady pace I realized that I actually felt good and was sure I could get sub 51, what I didn't expect was that I would keep consistently clicking off (just barely) sub 8 minute miles.  I almost always flub up 10k pacing but for once got it right.  What was funny was I could see one of the club members up in front of me for most of the race that I'm close to the same speed as but every time I would try to surge up to catch him, he'd do the same and the gap never lessened, lol.

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Could I have pushed harder? Yes, I could have, I wasn't totally wiped out at the finish line, it was a comfortably hard pace rather than pushing to the puke zone. I said thank you to the marshalls and to the people spectating who was cheering us on.  I smiled whenever I saw a camera (even smiled several times when it was just me) but on the other hand I wouldn't have been able to carry on a conversation.  My foot did start aching in the last couple of miles but it wasn't unbearable. Final stats: gun time 50:26, 470th overall/chip time 49:03, 440th overall out of 858 finishers. Yes chip time has me up 30 places! Stoked! Middle of the pack territory but there were a LOT of speedy people at this one.

As far as the race goes, I quite enjoyed the course, didn't even mind that it was 2 loops.  It kind of reminded me of the Capitol City Classic 10k in that it was flat, had shady areas, and while not uber scenic, it was pretty enough.  I would definitely do this one again.  Oh and we got a banana in our goody bag! Yes, I'm still holding a grudge against the Derby 10k for not providing the participants with bananas at the end, call me petty if you must but it's all about giving me some kind of food at the end. Some people want a medal, I want my banana. 

Goody bag contents, yay for a non-white tee!