Scripps Ranch Old Pros 4th of July 10K

All the worries about the quads and the long layoff were for naught.  I had no problem with the leg and I had plenty of stamina to go the distance at a good 7:20-7:30 pace, finishing with a personal time of 44:52 and a gun time of 45:2* something.  The final 1/2 mile was nice since it was all downhill almost right up to the finish line.

I knew I had a sub-46 minute run in the bag at around 4 miles.  I figured I could coast in and meet that goal, but I felt good enough to maintain the pace and finish in stride.  I'm not going to say it was easy.  I pressed pretty hard and don't think I left too much in the tank.  I didn't want to look at my watch after the 4-mile checkpoint and so when I stopped my watch at the finish, I was pretty surprised to find I'd gone and busted the 45-minute barrier.

I got a little frustrated at the start after lining up deep in the crowd rather than trying to edge myself up closer to the starting line, and then finding myself faced with incredible congestion as the mob made it's way to the lake.  I've had pretty good experiences starting a little further back, and I didn't think that most of those who were ahead of me were going to go THAT slowly.  But as the crowd swelled and with the neighborhood street being kind of narrow, I had to do a lot of weaving and speed variation just to get an open lane.  It was kind of a real-life Mario Kart, but without the exploding shells.

My split at the 1st mile was about 8:30 on the official clock and 8:00 on my watch.  The slow start had cost me time and I didn't know it at the time, but there was no "chip" time.  Our timing tags were only going to record our finish time from the gun, so the 30 seconds it took for me to cross the start line put me in the hole on the official log.  Fortunately, I kept track of my personal time.  Looking back, it may have even been a benefit to have run the first mile slowly since it helped me achieve a negative split and feel strong through the 2nd half.

The trek around the lake was much better.  The crowd was stretching out by then and I was able to run the tangents on the turns, for the most part; and running through the slower pacers gave me a psychological boost.  By the midway point, though, the opportunities to pass were fewer and fewer as runners started to naturally find their own pace group.

Between mile 3 and 4 somewhere, I passed a local 11-year old who was amazing.  I didn't really pass her so much as slowly ease by her.  At the awards ceremony, they announced she'd come in 2nd for girls 13-and-under. I never even saw the 10-year old girl who came in 40 seconds ahead of her.

The after-race celebration was fun and neighborly.  Big and well-attended, but not as massive as the other big half marathons and RnR marathon.  I was able to indulge in a few post-race beers (low cal, of course) and picked up a few goodies.  But mostly enjoyed just hanging out on the park lawn and watching all the people.  I didn't run into anyone I know.  I would have liked to have shared the moment with friends.

So that's over, and I feel good.  I'm glad I didn't loaf around the course like I had thought I might do.  I've been thinking of doing that for AFC in August, convincing myself that I just want to enjoy the route and the event without worrying about time.  I don't know though.  Achieving a good time enhances the fun.  RnR was fun, except that the disappointment of not running well ruined it for me.  My other running events have all been blasts; but then again I ran well in all of them.

I don't know.  We'll see.  I don't think I need to set a half marathon PR at AFC to enjoy it.  It'll complete the Triple Crown, which was my goal.

And with the 10K time goal met, I only have one more target.  And that's the 5K.  I've got July and August to work on that before I shift gears in September and starting concentrating on the long, slow distance buildup again.

But that's something for tomorrow.  Today, it's a beautiful San Diego summer day.  I'm feeling relaxed and content.  Time for a carne asada burrito.  I remember those.