Race Recap- Country Roads 10k

So, yesterday I raced at the Country Roads 10k. It was a great day to race. The weather was cool, no rain, barely any humidity, extc. It did start to get a little humid later but overall, it was pretty great.

I don't know if you can tell from this course map and the elevation, but it was a pretty hilly run. Not a lot of steep hills though, which was good, more like consistent. I knew there were going to be a lot of hills though, so I probably should have slowed it down my first mile.

Mile 1: 11:06

I got sweeped up in the excitement of the race and started my first mile wayyyy too fast to be something I could maintain for 6.2 miles. I also noticed from the very beginning that it was like my legs were really struggling and felt stiff. Running on the road was really bothering me. Which is weird because that typically doesn't happen. So I started running on the grass whenever I could and my calves felt a lot better.

I had about 5 people behind me after mile 1, but slowly and surely pretty much everyone passed me as my calves were starting to hurt.

Mile 2: 13:50

My GU that I took before the race started to set in and I got use to the hills. My third mile was faster. My fourth mile was just a little bit slower. I felt pretty happy with those splits as generally speaking, I tend to fall apart in the middle section of most races. I also think the hills started to take a breather here. Plus, there was some nice houses and scenery to look at.

Mile 3: 13:19

Mile 4: 13:22

At this point, the miles were starting to roll together and I had another gel right after the 5k mark. My legs were feeling better and other than the humidity that was starting to kick in, I was feeling pretty good. I was also feeling pretty alone as the field had about 80 people and I was in the back. It was pretty similar to running a long run with a much more urgent sense to speed up and the refusal to give in to the need to pee.

Mile 5: 13:23

Mile 6: 13:24

Miles 4, 5 and 6 were all within 1 or 2 seconds of each other. Which I think is pretty great if I say so myself. I was sticking to my intervals for the most part and I think it helped a lot.

I tried to give it everything I had for the last .21 miles and did that in a 10.55 min pace.

Total time: 1.21.55- 13:11 pace. My second fastest 10k time ever!

 

Also, special shout-out to my husband who PR'd by over 3 minutes and broke 50 minutes for the first time, coming in at a 48 min, something for a 7.48 avg pace! Really proud of him!

 

 

Very, very good race. I would definitely suggest doing this if you get the chance!