Since I'm not particularly happy with this race, the report is going to be pretty short. But in all honesty, it was a good thing. The "race" was much more a party, done as a fundraiser for cancers below the belt for North York General Hospital. Personally, I almost doubled my goal, which is a testament to the high-quality people who are my friends and family.
It was a very warm evening (28 C), with lots of humidity right at Lake Ontario, and a stiff breeze out of the SW, unfortunately the direction we were heading during the first half of the run. I'm not a warm weather runner, but still hoped I'd pull out a good result. Everyone was dressed in their skivvies, except me. I'll raise the money, but running 10k hard in cotton boxers is an invitation to chafing the likes of which I never want to experience. I felt sorry for all these people who would soon learn this lesson.
The gun went off, I got clear of the crowds, and fell into about 10th place. I tried to keep an eye on pace, and was moving steadily up to 3rd. Through 3k I was bang on pace, felt pretty good, although fighting the wind was taking a bit of a toll. And then right around 4k, the plug got pulled. I just didn't seem to have it, and my mood went south. I was slowing, and I just wanted it to be over. I kept looking for the turnaround, since I'd get a tailwind and could pick things up again, but after the Garmin chirped 5k complete and I still couldn't see anything, I knew I was in for a long haul. Finally around 5.5k I got to turn, and tried to open my stride up, and while my pace increased, I wasn't getting back the time I had lost. Frustrated that I wasn't running as well as I wanted, and that no matter what this wouldn't be an official 10k time, about 8k (by the Garmin), I eased off the throttle to just jog it in. I had promised my wife we wouldn't bother hanging around for the awards ceremony, so fighting for the last podium spot wasn't a priority. I got to 10k around 40:35, 75 seconds off of what I would have considered a decent run, and still had 4 minutes to the finish line. I was finally passed by another runner so I no longer had to worry about winning a prize I didn't want. I finally hit the line, was a bit grumpier to my wife than I should have been (sorry Sunshine!), but was quickly cheered up by my smiling baby (and smiling wife, despite my grumpiness). Not the day I wanted, but I got to run hard, and I'll use this for motivation for my next few races. I've already signed up for another 10k in October to exact my revenge on the distance.
Official Results:
44:23, 4th Overall
No comments:
Post a Comment