Actual: 39:00
16 female, 6th in age group
I entered this race through Second Sole and was racing with my teammates for the first time. I drove out to Youngstown with my mom, who came in to town in the middle of the night and basically had no sleep before we had to leave at 7:30 a.m. I had eight hours of sleep, so was feeling pretty good on the drive out there. I wasn't tight or anything from the 5k the night before. Thinking back to when I ran in college, I went in as a freshman thinking that I would be the runner to double in the 10k and 5k and it sure didn't turn out like that. Barely survived the 10k and there was no thought of doubling. And yet here I was feeling great and ready to run a couple minutes faster than I had ever run in college. On hills!
The check-in was at the YMCA and then I had to take a bus up to the start. I left my mom behind as I got on the bus and told her to start watching for me around the 37 minute mark and hopefully I would be in before 39. I had no pacing plan for this race and wanted to focus on competing with those around me. I knew there would be plenty of fast women and that I would be doing very well to finish in the top 10. When I got to the staging area at the elementary school, I chilled out in a sunny hallway for a while, waiting until it was time to warm up. About a half hour before the start I went out for a jog down the first mile of the course. It was majorly downhill and I knew it would be a quick start. As all the semi-elites and elites started to trickle in, I realized there were dozens of them...more than what the results from the previous year showed. Cleveland Elite Development was there in force and I immediately made a goal to see how many of them I could beat. Not many, it turns out. Those chicks are fast. I met my teammates, Samantha, Lissa and Stephanie for the first time. I knew that Lissa and Stephanie would be around my pace, but Samantha would be in the 34-35 minute range, if not faster. There were a few international ladies that would be around 33.
The race went out fast and I counted the women ahead of me to see if I could hang in the top 10. It was clear by the first mile (5:53) that I would not be able to stay up in the top 10. I was 12th at that point, and going way faster than I should. I backed off a lot and a couple of women went by me. One tiny little lady went by me at a breakneck pace, huffing and puffing like she was kicking it into the finish. Turns out she was an international (Russian maybe) that was in the 30-34 age group. She looked 10! I went through the 5k in right about 19:00 and not long after that, Lissa passed me on one of the downhills. I was feeling okay, but the hills were killing my pace and I knew that I was flirting with not making a sub 39:00. I tried to latch onto Lissa for the last two miles but she kept just a few paces ahead. I went through the 5 mile in a new pr of 31:08 and then slowed down big-time for the final mile. I was dying a horrible death by the last uphill on a bridge and had to convince myself not to walk. I did kick it in pretty well coming down the straightaway to the finish and saw that the clock was about to hit 39:00. Have to go after a 38:00 another day. Lissa was just a few seconds ahead of me in 15th. Mom cheered me in and took a bunch of pics afterwards. I was happy with my time, but not ecstatic. I knew that the 5k the night before and this 10k were slower than what my half predicted. I waited around for the awards to see Samantha get her 2nd Ohioan check and Lissa get her age group award. I cooled down for a couple of miles and then left Youngstown to get home to my kidlets.
Results: http://gopherarun.com/results/2014%2010K%20Results%20Peace%20Race%20%236.pdf
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