For the past few months, I’ve been looking forward to the Newport 10k. It was an excuse to drive up north, see a few friends and race a competitive 10k. My 10k PRs are usually from a half marathon or extremely hot race. It’s rare that I get to run a 10k and even rarer that the 10k is in good conditions.
Judging by the weather recently, I didn’t think I had to worry about a hot race, but life surprises you. We arrived later than anticipated to the race start, grabbed our bibs and did a quick 2 mile warm up. I would give preferred 3 miles. However, I would have missed the start.
I lined up several rows back and found myself near Rob. Rob is a good friend and North Jersey coach. He’s a great runner with the best beard in NJ. After the national anthem, the race was off.
During the first mile, I realized I had no idea how to run a 10k. I felt like I was racing a half marathon except my first mile was a 5:55. I wasn’t sure how long I would be able to hold that, but I thought eh, I’ll race a 5k and then I’ll race another 5k.
During the second mile, I found myself in a pack of men. None of them were my husband, but one guy was breathing obnoxiously. I decided to surge because, honestly, it wasn’t pleasant to be running near. To my surprise, I hit the second mile in 5:54, which was ultimately my fastest mile with a small elevation climb.
My goal of the third mile was to make it halfway. I knew Danielle was cheering around mile 4. I ran with Rob for a little bit during the third mile. I didn’t have the energy to talk which was probably a good thing.
I hit the third mile in 6:10 and the 5k point in 18:35. I felt strong while running and didn’t feel as though I was working that hard. As you can calculate, my racing probably wasn’t the smartest as I ran the second 5k about a minute slower.
During the fourth mile, I found myself alone. I could see my husband ahead, but he didn’t know that. I saw Danielle and Amelia where I gave a meek smile and wave combination. Their shout was enough to give my husband a clue; I was approaching.
I hit the fourth mile in 6:11. I knew I was fading quickly. During mile 5, I was running stride for stride with my husband. I told him to go for it, and he did. I hoped he would surge and drop me.
Both miles 5 and 6, got hot fast. All of a sudden, we were on the boardwalk, and there was no shade. I hit the mile 5 in 5:57 and 5 miles around 30:10.
The last mile went around the boardwalk. There were a lot of turns and tangents I didn’t run them well. I got caught towards the outside of multiple turns which ended up adding .06 to my race (maybe 20 seconds or so but who knows…).
The last mile felt like it took forever but that’s because with all of the turns and heat it was my slowest mile of 6:27. I was 12th female overall and 6th in my age group do I’m able to use my chip time of 37:59. My husband ran a 37:46.
Thoughts:
I didn’t feel great running. It was hot and humid as well as I didn’t nutritionally fuel well this past week. Technically a 37:59 is a 10k PR for me, but I do believe I’m in better fitness.
Questions for you:
Have you raced a 10k before?
Would you rather a hot and humid race or pouring rain?