Rodes 10k and PJ 10-miler

The last two legs of the triple crown race were awesome. First, the Rodes 10k:

I met up with Ericka, Karen, Bill, Lisa, Erin and Justin at the start of the race. Gotta give props to Bill who let us park in his garage and hang out inside the office which is right at the start of the race. It was a little chilly that morning for just standing around, but since the weather was slightly overcast with a 50-55 degree temp it called for little more than shorts and a t-shirt which was the perfect pick for that day.

I had no specific time goals going into this race, as it's been for the past six months or so worth of races, but knew that I'd be doing the standard 4:1 intervals. I felt great going out, and took it slow and steady up that first hill at the end of Broadway. Rounding the corner onto Grinstead I had a downhill which was welcoming, as well as an upcoming, gradual climb - which should've been a walk break for me, but since it's hard to get that momentum back once I've started walking I opted to run up it instead. In all, I believe I ran the entire 3rd mile, which my Garmin clearly shows (9:24 pace).

Heading back up Lexington was fine, but I started to feel it a little around the 4-mile mark. I was still taking no more than my normal interval breaks, and with acquaintances along the course to keep me going, I puttered along and was happy to take that last right hand turn onto Broadway for the home stretch. It's amazing how long and drawn out that last mile or so can feel when you're headed straight to the finish with no other turns in sight. I could've walked some that last mile, as I was certainly tired enough and was fairly close to last year's PR, but I just slowed it down a bit and did what I could across the finish. Justin's poster board declaring, "Connie Haxby You Have Won a Lap Dance," certainly helped me cross over the last .1 mile and I had a good chuckle. Finishing time was 1:03:? - about 2-3 minutes slower than last year's time, but I will definitely take it.

The PJ 10-miler was a bit of a different story - at least at the beginning. It's amazing how I can wake up NOT feeling well about a race and have the run of my life and, alternately, wake up feeling great and then bonking soon in. I was afraid that today was going to be the latter as up until 3 miles into the race I just wasn't feeling it at all. Again, no goals other than to finish under 2 hours with the 4:1 intervals. My legs felt heavy, my shins were bugging me a bit, and I honestly thought I would be walking through the park and maybe even the subsequent 4 miles that came after. Luckily, I caught some kind of wind after we entered the park and I was able to maintain the intervals as well as I could. I say that because, once again, I wanted to take advantage of the downhills and continue a slow and steady pace up the hills. My fastest mile was 7, which is right out of the park, at around a 9:34 pace. For the remaining 3 miles I focused on those walk breaks every 4 minutes as I started to feel some small blisters creeping up. But feeling good about where I was and how I was feeling overall, I knew I could come close to last year's PR.

Rounding that last corner I had another poster from Justin: "Connie Haxby Magnificent Man Candy Awaits You." Again, a great chuckle and a nice way to get me through that past .2 to .3 miles to the finish. I came in about 5 minutes under the PR at 1:46:42. Well under the 2 hour goal - so I'll take it.

Next up, Run the Bluegrass half marathon in just 4 days. I did this one about 4-5 years ago before they changed the course. It is now hella-hilly from what I hear (someone counted 34 hills once) so I'm not exactly looking forward to the race, but I AM looking forward to that stellar medal!