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This was my second 10K and I was hoping and training to break 50:00 but it didn't happen.<br><br>
I went into this race not knowing anything about the course since this is the first year we've run it and it is over an hour from home, so no opportunity to preview the course. For some reason this was making me kind of nervous--I didn't sleep well the night before and I just had this sense of foreboding all morning before the race. When I called to make sure they got our registration (DH ran the 5K), they said "it's got a couple of hills", but then my friend who goes to school in Bolivar said he hadn't seen many hills in Bolivar at all, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I have been doing some hill training but only for a couple of weeks.<br><br>
When we left to take the kids to mom's it was still in the 30's and quite windy at home so I had dressed in several layers, including tights, two shirts, a vest, and gloves and a headband. I don't like being cold. By the time it was race time it was about 45 degrees but the wind was still blowing pretty strong--18 mph with 25 mph gusts and there were several stretches where we were running straight into that wind. Note that is is called a Polar Bear Run, however they did not give out any type of award for being the least dressed--most people were dressed like me and freezing their butts off waiting for the start whistle. There were several high school kids in just shorts and a singlet. And then there was my running "coach"--he writes my running plans for me and we talk mostly by email about my training. He ran the 10K in shorts and shoes only. At times I was wishing I was in shorts but then that wind would start to blow again and I was glad I wasn't. I did take the vest off and ended up carrying it. I should have just pitched it.<br><br>
So the whistle blows and we take almost an immediate sharp left and run through the Southwest Baptist University campus, which is a long incline but not terribly steep. We hang a right for a short while, and then another right and we are on this huge downhill. Well, if this was a loop course then maybe that wouldn't be a bad thing but as we get to the bottom of this hill I start seeing the 5K runners coming back the other way. And then as we turn another corner, we're going up another hill! So apparently we're doing an out-and-back and not a loop and that big hill we just went down (I mapped it at home at about 1/2 mile and 4% incline), will hit in mile 6. Not cool. Maybe that's not so big but it was pretty daunting to me. I think that was the most frustrating part of this race was not knowing what was coming at us and it was just hill after hill. On the back side before the turn-around for the 10K it started to get pretty warm and the wind died down and that's when the vest came off. Aside from not advertising the course much, they did do a good job of manning the course at every intersection and managing traffic for us.<br><br>
I managed to get two times, one at 3 miles and one at 6 miles. I did my first 3 miles in 24:34, about an 8:11 pace and the last three in 25:23, about 8:28 pace. I imagine most of the time was lost on that hill. I had hoped to finish in 50:00 or less and may have if it had been a different course--I finished in 51:22. My last 10K was a flat course and 50:59 so I thought that my time on Saturday was pretty respectable although not what I had planned. It was good enough for 2nd in my AG and the lady in front of me beat me by about 2 minutes so I took a trophy home. And for all my whining about hills, my husband is even worse about not liking them (he didn't get along with a very hilly 5K course last summer), but he PR'd on this one and took home 3rd in his AG. So I was proud of him for that although I'll have to work on my 5K--he's only about 30 seconds off of my PR now <img alt="smile.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/smile.gif">.<br><br>
This was good training though for my half in March. I had been told to train for hills and now I know why and I need to take that seriously. And although that half is an hour drive away as well, I think that one of these weekends I'm going to drive down there and do my long run on that course so I know what to expect.
I went into this race not knowing anything about the course since this is the first year we've run it and it is over an hour from home, so no opportunity to preview the course. For some reason this was making me kind of nervous--I didn't sleep well the night before and I just had this sense of foreboding all morning before the race. When I called to make sure they got our registration (DH ran the 5K), they said "it's got a couple of hills", but then my friend who goes to school in Bolivar said he hadn't seen many hills in Bolivar at all, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I have been doing some hill training but only for a couple of weeks.<br><br>
When we left to take the kids to mom's it was still in the 30's and quite windy at home so I had dressed in several layers, including tights, two shirts, a vest, and gloves and a headband. I don't like being cold. By the time it was race time it was about 45 degrees but the wind was still blowing pretty strong--18 mph with 25 mph gusts and there were several stretches where we were running straight into that wind. Note that is is called a Polar Bear Run, however they did not give out any type of award for being the least dressed--most people were dressed like me and freezing their butts off waiting for the start whistle. There were several high school kids in just shorts and a singlet. And then there was my running "coach"--he writes my running plans for me and we talk mostly by email about my training. He ran the 10K in shorts and shoes only. At times I was wishing I was in shorts but then that wind would start to blow again and I was glad I wasn't. I did take the vest off and ended up carrying it. I should have just pitched it.<br><br>
So the whistle blows and we take almost an immediate sharp left and run through the Southwest Baptist University campus, which is a long incline but not terribly steep. We hang a right for a short while, and then another right and we are on this huge downhill. Well, if this was a loop course then maybe that wouldn't be a bad thing but as we get to the bottom of this hill I start seeing the 5K runners coming back the other way. And then as we turn another corner, we're going up another hill! So apparently we're doing an out-and-back and not a loop and that big hill we just went down (I mapped it at home at about 1/2 mile and 4% incline), will hit in mile 6. Not cool. Maybe that's not so big but it was pretty daunting to me. I think that was the most frustrating part of this race was not knowing what was coming at us and it was just hill after hill. On the back side before the turn-around for the 10K it started to get pretty warm and the wind died down and that's when the vest came off. Aside from not advertising the course much, they did do a good job of manning the course at every intersection and managing traffic for us.<br><br>
I managed to get two times, one at 3 miles and one at 6 miles. I did my first 3 miles in 24:34, about an 8:11 pace and the last three in 25:23, about 8:28 pace. I imagine most of the time was lost on that hill. I had hoped to finish in 50:00 or less and may have if it had been a different course--I finished in 51:22. My last 10K was a flat course and 50:59 so I thought that my time on Saturday was pretty respectable although not what I had planned. It was good enough for 2nd in my AG and the lady in front of me beat me by about 2 minutes so I took a trophy home. And for all my whining about hills, my husband is even worse about not liking them (he didn't get along with a very hilly 5K course last summer), but he PR'd on this one and took home 3rd in his AG. So I was proud of him for that although I'll have to work on my 5K--he's only about 30 seconds off of my PR now <img alt="smile.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/smile.gif">.<br><br>
This was good training though for my half in March. I had been told to train for hills and now I know why and I need to take that seriously. And although that half is an hour drive away as well, I think that one of these weekends I'm going to drive down there and do my long run on that course so I know what to expect.
