Pirates Home Run 10K Recap

This race felt like the best example I've had recently of how tough I am on myself. I really thought I could PR this race, or at least do "well". Looking back, I did do pretty well! But during the entirety of the race, I just couldn't stop thinking about how much I was sucking. That I should be going faster. That I shouldn't be so tired.

I started off feeling good, but pretty quickly, I faded a bit. Part of it was on purpose (went out a bit too fast). But then I couldn't quite maintain the pace I wanted. It's a bit weird because my pace chart looks sorta like a V - not quite negative splits, but not entirely positive splits either. I did: 8:16, 8:39, 9:00, 9:49 (what happened mile 4???), 9:13, 8:56, with an overall pace of 9:06min/mile. Given that I was shooting for 8:20... I was just a bit off. I was really beating myself up until I looked at all my past times (not just my best). I actually landed right in the middle. And compared to the other people running, I crushed it. I was in the top 20% of both my division (25/122) and gender (73/365), and ending in the top 34% overall (235/692).

Here's what I learned:

1. I should not be so hard on myself. Sometimes races don't go the way I expect them to and that's ok. That's what I love about shorter races: if I don't do as well as I want one week, I can do another race a few weeks later.
2. I need to lower my expectations for the Pittsburgh Half in a few weeks. Since I had to switch from the full to the half, I've been a bit bummed and my training has suffered.
3. I need to start doing track again. I've gone twice in the past month and I think I need to keep it up. My speed has definitely suffered since I stopped doing track.

B.A.A. 10K Recap: OMG SO HOT

I did the B.A.A. 10K this morning and it was so hot and awful. They said at the beginning that 10,000 people had signed up, but luckily only 7,811 showed up. Small blessings. It surprised me that there were only 900 fewer people than at the 5K, which was such a small dent, I didn't even notice that there were fewer people. It was so crowded that, even though I was waiting in line at the porta-potties when the race started, I still made it into the right corral and started the race with everyone else... 15 minutes after the initial starting gun.

At the start with about 5000 people behind me

I do not do well in the heat. It was about 73 degrees and super sunny with no breeze (WTF BOSTON YOU ARE ALWAYS WINDY). I don't really sweat, which is a blessing and a curse, because I overheat like crazy. If I didn't have my hydration pack, I legit think I would have passed out. I felt strong the first two miles and did those sub 9. But then the next two were at 9 minutes and the last two were 9:30+. I really didn't feel good about this race overall, but it definitely felt better organized than the 5K so there's that.

In the end, I finished in 56:11. I finished in top 40% overall and top 27% in my division. Combined with my 5K time, I'm now 70th in my division for the Distance Medley and in the top 26% of women overall. For that, I'm super proud!