Territorial Days 10K Race Report

I decided to run this local 10k pretty last-minute. There was a huge showing from my running club, the Mountain Milers which made it extra special.  Last night I got super excited because I knew there would be some good competition at this race. My first priority is to race against myself, or my best time, but I do love some friendly competition as well.

Race started at 7:15am this morning and for the first time ever, I arrived early and completed a 1.5 mile warm-up run. I felt good at the start. I have felt a bit stagnant with my times so I figured I should go out a little bit faster to see if I could hold a new pace. I tried for a 7:15 pace and held it for 2 miles. The warm-up had me feeling good in the beginning. Usually I have to fight and suffer the first few miles, but this morning they felt great. By mile 3 I slipped to 7:43 and mile 4 was a steady uphill that put me at 8:12. Bummer.

I was ahead of my competition, but looked over my shoulder at the 3 turns to keep making sure. I tried to turn it on at the end, but felt pretty depleted. I was 25 seconds off a PR and came in at 48:16. I felt great about it and it was good enough for 1st in my age group, 2nd woman overall.  The second and third women finishers in my age group came in at 49:23 and 49:59, respectively.

The course was flat, rolling hills for a mile, uphill for a mile and then nice, slight downhill for the last 2 miles. It was slightly overcast conditions and on pavement the whole way. The turnout was 77 people for the 10k and a very friendly environment - the race benefiting a local high school cross country team.

Tonight I did a night running training trail run of 4.5 miles. It went well. I am pacing my friend, Lloyd, in the final 25 miles of the Wasatch 100 in less than a week.