St. Paddy's Day 10k

Ryan & I (Yes, he wore last year's St Paddy's race T-shirt)

Racing in Jacksonville two weekends in a row was the best idea! 1st Place Sports puts on some great events and this weekend we even got to take advantage of Jacksonville's beaches post race. Plus having my parents in town for both races was an added treat. 

Entering the St. Paddy's Day 10k was another opportunity to get in a hard workout with the added fun of getting to race. I stayed optimistic all week while fighting off a cold that my rundown body luckily did not fully succumb to after the busy weekend I had with the Gate River Run. 

Once the race started I couldn't believe how great I felt! I was racing in the front pack and was in a nice, smooth rhythm. I might have felt a little too good since I led at two points during the first 5k. Once at the 1 Mile Mark (pictures can be seen here: http://photos.jacksonville.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?image=46434522&event=1626184&CategoryID=67145&picnum=8&move=B#Image) and then again at the 5k mark. 

Ryan, who has barely trained since his 1st marathon a month and half ago, offered to run with me to help me keep a more even pace. Little did we know that I would actually be racing in the front pack. So at about 4 Miles when one of the Masters men in the race put in a solid move and I couldn't match it Ryan left me about a half mile later so that he catch him and win the men's race. 

I kept trying to catch the other man that had been in our pack of four, but my legs just didn't have it in them. The 2^nd 5k also got a bit tricky in the last mile and a half as we had to weave through the other participants who were either finishing their 5k or on their 1^st loop of the 10k.

I ended up 4th overall and the 1st female finisher with a time of 35:24, a new Road 10k PR! (One of my goals this spring is to just keep chipping that time down until it is closer to my 33:57 track 10k PR)

Before the race I made it one of my goals to try and keep all of mile splits in the 5:30s. I almost did this, but my Garmin had a bit of trouble getting accurate mile splits with all of the sharp turns we made on the cemetery roads. Since there were clocks at each mile mark I have two sets of splits: what I saw on the clocks and what my Garmin said. 

Garmin: 5:36, 5:41, 5:47, 5:35, 5:34, 5:37 

Race Clocks: 5:32, 5:34 (11:06), (17:26 5k)

Overall, I was really pleased with this race. It was exciting to race in the front pack and I was quite relieved that the cold I fought all week didn't really affect me besides my breathing getting pretty burdened the last two miles. 

This week I’m excited to get back up in my mileage and put in some more solid training. I am not sure what I will get to race in the near future. I have a few options in mind and can’t wait to set some more goals once I have a more solidified April/May race schedule. In the meantime I will stay focused and motivated with the June & July races I already have planned.