This is from a race in May, but am just getting a chance to post this blog entry.
On Memorial Day, I ran the Marin Memorial Day 10K. I had not been feeling great in the week prior to the race and had not run a 10K in about 4 years, so I was hesitant to run the race. Also, I did not know if I was prepared to run a race in CA. I felt semi-settled, but was still very new to San Francisco. I decided to run the race the night before but was open to bailing if I felt bad that morning.
When I got to race, I felt like everyone had a team except for me. (I have since joined a wonderful track club.) I warmed up solo and headed for the start line with time to do strides before the race. I tried to ease my way near the front of the start, and tried to squeeze in between the teams. I knew the race would go out fast so I wanted to be near the front, but not in the front. After the gun went off, I could not move for a few seconds because there were so many people, but soon, I was off, and my first race in CA has started.
I tried not to go out too fast, I knew it would be easy to get caught up in a pace that was too fast for my fitness level. I hit the first mile in 5:40ish. I was happy with that pace. I do not remember my 2 mile split. My third mile split was 17:35 ish. I do not remember the rest of my split, but I do not remember my form breaking down with two miles to go. I also feel apart mentally. I started to think that the other runners were faster, and at that point I feel apart mentally and physically. Many times I start thinking about how much others have accomplished in the running world and lose focus on running my own race.
I am not sure what my splits were for the last two miles but I know they were significantly slower than my other miles. I finished in 36:35, which put me at an average mile pace of 5:53/mile. I felt like the race went okay, but not great, however I guess it went as well as could be expected since I feeling poorly the week prior. A big part of my running is mental and this is an area I need to work on along wit my fitness. I was glad to have completed my first CA race. Hopefully I will have many more CA races to come.
