TC 10K

The unexpected race.

The Registration

IF you would have asked me 2 years ago if I’d ever sign up on a whim to do a 10K on the same day as a planned 5K I would have laughed. But alas, here we are 2 years later and I did just that. The reason why…the 10K had a cooler t-shirt. Yes, I spent $50 to register the day before the TC 10K just so I could have the cooler shirt and of course another medal. It almost didn’t happen. We got our stuff for the 5K, walked around the expo, left the expo and were in the car about to leave the parking garage when out of the blue I said we should do the 10K. I thought Eric was going to say no since the 10K started at 7:30am and we would have to leave our house early to get to the State Capitol in time but he said sure. We sat in the car for about 5 minutes humming and hawing and finally said let’s do it.

The Start

This was the first cool race since the spring. The starting temp was about 40 degrees. No tank top for me this time. I wore my running jacket to keep myself warm. I was a little nervous as my speed workout on Thursday strained my groin and my leg wasn’t happy walking to the start. We started in the back like always. I ran up the first hill with not too much trouble. I told Eric I was definitely doing the run walk method so I have legs left for the 5K later. My first half mile was the slowest of the whole run but it was all up hill. The actually gain/loss on this course was very similar to the course last weekend in Michigan, the only difference is this was mostly rolling hills, there were no long down hills and long steep up hills. The biggest hill was in the beginning and end (obviously since it is an out-and-back). I stuck to the method and felt great. Eric was a trooper; he stayed with me and my crazy method for almost the entire race. The first mile, even with the long up hill to start came in at 12:09. Already a good sign! Mile 2 leveled off a bit and we got away from the crowded start. The time was slightly less at 12:06.

The Middle

The first water stop was just after mile 2. I knew this was going to be a long day of running so I had a few energy beans at the water stop. It was a pain in the butt to get the package open (note to self, open the bags before starting!). I think that is why mile 3 came in much slower at 12:39, my slowest pace of the 10K. My time at the 5K mark was just under 38 minutes. Obviously not my fastest but not bad considering I still had a 10K more to go. I made up for the lost time in mile 4 with an 11:38 time. I think those beans helped!

The Finish

I don’t remember much about mile 5. There was a water stop in there somewhere. This time I just had water, I’m thinking I should of have had more beans! My mile 5 time was back to the normal at around 12:09. Somewhere during mile 6 I lost Eric. I had a walk break and wanted to keep running. I said “Go, I’ll meet  you at the finish.” His leaving me didn’t really hurt my time as I still got mile 6 done in 12:11.  The last quarter of a mile I sprinted to the finish. It helped that we had that long downhill. My pace coming down the hill and across the finish was around 10:35. I’m proud that I had that much in me to finish so strong…but the hill helped. A guy in front of me tripped over the timing mat just as he crossed the finish. I shouldn't laugh but I did...that is why I'm laughing in my finishing pictures. 

My overall time was 1:15.25. I’m very happy with that…3 minutes faster than last week’s 10K. I got my medal, water and banana and hurried to bag check to swap out bibs and throw our medals into the bag to recheck under our new number.

Photos, Stats and Maps

The TC 10K Start!

TC 10K Finished

2015 TC 10K Finisher Medal