2011 Show Me State Games 10K

I ran my long run (22 miles) on Friday and an easy 10 miles on Saturday.  Ran with Lisa, the race director of the SMSG 5K and 10K so got to thinking since I ran my long run on Friday maybe I could run the 10K on Sunday.  I went out to Rock Bridge to run a few miles on the trail at 6 am and if that felt okay, I planned to go run the 10K at 8 am.  I ran 4.5 easy miles on the trail  with Dan S. and Karen which felt okay other than it was getting pretty warm.

There was a line to sign up when I got there but went pretty quickly since they were having us fill out the forms while standing in line.  I ran a mile to warm up but not sure that was too necessary considering it was nearly 80F.   This year the 5 and 10K had different start and finish lines and different courses.  The 10K started about 5 min after the 5K.  There was no getting lost since there was only 1 turn on this out and back course.

I had already run 63 miles for the week at the start line and it was hot.  Legs actually felt okay, but planned to keep the pace easier than usual for a 10K due to the heat.  A few guys started out faster and I passed 3 of them before the first mile and then was in 2nd place.  The guy in 1st had a big lead.  I had a 6:32 split at the first mile and 6:38 in the second mile.  The 3rd mile slowed down a little to 7:02 and was really looking forward to a drink at the turn around.  I stopped to drink my cup of water and then could see a couple guys were pretty close since they were almost at the turnaround.

I headed back and didn't look behind me.  The next mile up a hill was tough and slowed down to 7:29 which included my brief stop at the water.  At one point I thought I heard a guy breathing behind me but no one passed me and then didn't hear anyone.  Once I got over the hill, I picked up the pace a little and ran mile 5 in 7:01.  I resisted the temptation to look behind and attempted to keep my pace.  The last mile went up a bit and I turned the corner at about 5.9 to head to the finish.  I noticed a runner probably within a minute behind but was pretty sure he would not catch me.  Ran the 6th mile in 7:16 and the last 0.2 mile in 7:05.  Finished 43:14 with a 7:00 average.  The 17 year old winner was just under 39 minutes.  I placed second overall and 1st in my age group 40 - 44.

Enjoyed seeing and talking to several runners before and after.  This was a fun race and seemed to go off smoothly with the 2 different distances.  Looked like a good turn out for a hot day too.  It was 87 by the time I left the award ceremony.  I had wiped off with a towel after and then broke out in a sweat all over again standing in the shade.  My shorts were completely soaked today.  The out and back course was the same as the Runner's Choice that I run in January and has always been a tough course for me and the heat added to the challenge.  I have not taken a day off running in 20 days but felt like the heat was more of a factor than any fatigue.