Tufts 10k for Women

The whole purpose of this blog was to document my races. I seem to fail in that...since my last post, I ran a 10k and a 5k; not counting today's 10k.

So...really no detailed update for the other two races.

The 10k was warm (I think?) and there were tough parts. I wanted to finish in an hour, and I finished in 1:04:52. Not great, but not terrible either.

The 5k was brutal. To put it mildly, I wanted to quite after about 15 minutes. It was a little warm, but not horribly hot, but I didn't really want to do the race that day. I don't know. I just wasn't feeling it. I finished in 31:00...right at a 10 minute mile. Sadly, I wanted to finish in 28 minutes.

So today's 10k.

When I run races I generally have 3 goals:
1. Finish
2. Don't be last.
3. Run faster than the last time.

Goals 1 & 2 are fairly easy to accomplish and really aren't ever up for debate. I WILL finish and I WILL NOT be last.

It's goal 3 that gives me the most to run after. This is the first time I've repeated a distance, so before while I would be comparing apples & oranges for average pace, this time I'm comparing apples & apples for not just average pace but finish time. Only differences would be weather related.

And the fact that for the first time, I've actually been training. Well, I was 'training' for the 5k, but we won't talk about that day.

Lately I've been running at least 6 miles at least twice a week. In fact, last week, I ran over 6.2 miles twice (once, just shy of 6.5 miles) in 60 minutes. So my personal goal of finishing the 10k in less than 55 minutes seemed reasonable to me. Notice that I said "seemed reasonable to me."

Turns out, it wasn't reasonable.

Let's take a look at a few important factors:

Races are run outside; I run on the treadmill, exclusively.

Races are run outside in the heat; the gym isn't cool by any means, but it's not 80+ degrees with humidity.

Races have water stops; the TM has a spot to hold a water bottle...and I wasn't carrying one during the race.

Races have other people; there are no people slower than me on my TM that I have to weave around.

Races have hills; I run at a steady 1.5% incline on the TM.

Although it seemed like I was prepared for this race, turns out, I really wasn't. Sure, I finished. I even ran a good portion of it...possibly more than I ran during my last 10k. But my expectations certainly did not meet my level of preparedness.

On to the mile by mile (as I can remember them!):

Mile 0-1: I was frustrated. The beginning was horrid thanks to the strollers. The website clearly states that people pushing strollers should seed themselves at the BACK of the runners; to bad no one seemed to be enforcing this. There were several strollers seeded in front of me and caused several dangerous situations with me, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to hear that people were hurt because of them. Eventually as I got further along the stroller and walkers (who were walking 3-5 people across...) weren't as bothersome. I hit the 1st mile at 14:35 clock time; I was about 5 minutes behind clock time.

Mile 1-2: There was a water stop somewhere along this mile, I had run all the way to the water stop, took some water, and started running again. This was major for me, I've been struggling with running for more than 2 miles lately, but I've been increasing my stamina lately. There was also an uphill portion on a ramp or something, I ran up it. I can't remember the exact time the clock said when I hit mile 2, (I really need to invest in a Garmin.), but I think it was around 24:30.

Mile 2-3: Somewhere during this mile there was an 'extra' clock. Everyone around me was saying that we were half way and I was super excited because the clock said 31:43. Turns out that it wasn't halfway and I became angry at the people around me. I was still feeling pretty strong at this point, and I was surprising myself by being in the middle of the road, I usually hug the right side because of my slower pace/walking breaks. This is where we ran under the Mass Ave overpass. There was a water stop before we hit the turn to run under the overpass.

Mile 3-4: I think this is where my walking breaks became a little more frequent, although they weren't a huge part of my day. There were two water breaks during this mile, one shortly before the turnaround and one shortly after the turnaround. I like the turnaround because at the exact point of the turnaround, I can see everyone behind me and everyone in front of me. I wish the water stations had been further apart here...it seemed to be a little overkill to have them so close together and the 2nd one would have been better served closer to mile 4 (they were surrounding the half way point). I can't remember clock time when I hit mile 4 (must get Garmin), but I do remember thinking there was no way I was going to make my 55 minute goal.

Mile 4-5: No water breaks here. And it was long and hot. I think much of this mile was a straightaway in the sun. There were some shady parts (that I seem to remember from my half and the other 10k), but they were overshawdowed by the heat at this point. A little before the 5 mile mark we turned back down a 'residential' street (or as residential as you can get in downtown Boston), so there were parked cars again. I think I saw the clock say something around 56 or 57 minutes, I really wish I could remember. I do remember thinking that I might as well just speed up and run through the mile marker; the slower walkers were getting on my nerves even though I was one of them, plus I have this thing about walking through mile markers. This was a bad idea.

Mile 5-6: I started this mile with a sharp shooting pain on the right side of my stomach. It started when I sped up to pass some people and it only seemed to hurt whenever I took a step; no big deal, I wasn't running a race or anything. So even though I had just taken a walking break prior to the 5 mile mark, I had no choice but to walk at that point. I was in PAIN and half of me was actually thinking about quitting. Then I realized that there was a water stop up ahead and I decided to test it out and ran the short distance to the water station; not great but with a walk through the water (and some water! finally!), I should be good to finish. And that's when I realized that the water station was staffed completely by guys in tuxes. Well, played Tufts, well played. It was shortly past this point that we turned onto Arlington Street which signaled the almost end...and the first part of the course that I really don't like. I don't know WHY I don't like running down Arlington Street, but I don't. Maybe it's that I'm usually casually WALKING down the street or maybe it's because it's at this point where you are so close, yet so far away. I think I hit the mile 6 clock at 1:10 or so...officially past my previous 10k finish time. Although I tried to run the whole way from Arlington to the end, it didn't work; I took at least one walking break between turning onto Arlington and mile 6.

Mile 6-6.2: This is the 2nd part of the course that I really don't like. We turn onto Charles Street and it's at this point that the end is...so...far...away. In fact, I wasn't actually sure where the end was; I kept thinking it was closer than it actually was. I think the last .1 of a mile I kept trying to push myself faster and faster, but it just wasn't working; I *think* I ran the entire last .2 of a mile, but I'm not sure. I honestly can't remember what the clock said when I crossed the timing mats; I just wanted water at that point.

I won't lie. I was a little disappointed to not get a finisher's medal at the end. It seems that they don't have finisher's medals for this race. As bad as it sounds, if I had realized that prior to signing up for the race, I probably wouldn't have signed up for it. I run for medals.

Will I do this race again? Probably. I am the type of person who will always try to better my time, so next year I'll run this race against this year's time...and the time from my fastest 10k to date.