I was excited to run the Laguna Hills Memorial 10k. It was my third race in 9 days (La Jolla Half, Base 10k, and now this one). I didn’t really expect great things since it was my third race and last week was exhausting. I told myself it would be fun, and I’d never run in Laguna Hills before, so why not?
Before the Laguna Hills Memorial 10k:
We left the house around noon, and I arrived in Laguna Hills around 3. There was a bit of traffic for a random Sunday in Los Angeles and Orange County. Bib pickup for the Laguna Hills Memorial Half Marathon, 10k, and 5k, was at the local Road Runner, and we were in and out.
It was confusing because they kept pushing an app to go along with the Laguna Hills Memorial Races, but I found the app to be really unhelpful. I wish they just had the address of the Laguna Hills Memorial Start on the website. You could see there was mall parking and park in the mall lot. They made it a lot more confusing than it needed to be.
The night before was uneventful, and we arrived at the Laguna Hills Memorial race start around 6 am. At 6:15, there were long lines to park, so I highly suggest you arrive at 6 or before. I did a 2-mile warmup and felt okay. Not great, not terrible, but good enough. My goal was to beat the pace of the Base 10k (7:12). My reach goal was to run under 7 minute pace, but I knew it was hilly and since it was 3rd race in 9 days, I didn’t have high hopes.
Laguna Hills Memorial 10k Race:
The Laguna Hills Memorial Half Marathon, 10k, and 5k all start together, and for the first 3 miles, you have no idea who is doing what. I have a love/hate relationship with these types of races because it’s hard to see how competitive you are, but there are always going to be people faster than you. It was pretty packed for the first 3 miles, but I enjoyed having people to run with.
I hit the first mile of the Laguna Hills Memorial 10k in 6:39. I thought: this will either go really well or really poorly. I wasn’t feeling bad, but my fastest 10k lately was around a 7:00-minute pace, and I felt like I was in a lot better shape (and then, of course, I got sick).
I kept telling myself to just relax, and I did. We went through some rolling hills. I ran a 6:56, and I thought, okay, maybe this is where I start to fade. At mile 3 of the Laguna Hills Memorial 10k, I stayed focused. The 5k runners peeled off, and the half marathoners kept going straight, so I knew it was just the 10k now. I ran a 6:45 and was happy to be under 7. I also still couldn’t believe it.
Most of the last 3 miles of the Laguna Hills Memorial 10k went on a running path. It was fine, but there were some sharp turns that made it hard to run fast. I was working hard to run the tangents because I didn’t want to run 6.3 and miss a sub-7-minute paced 10k. I’ve known for a couple of years that on a good day, I’m in sub-7-minute 10k shape, but I haven’t been able to string the race together. Either I feel like garbage, the course is hilly, or the weather isn’t great for running fast.
Miles 4-6 of the Laguna Hills Memorial 10k were spent often thinking about how slow I could run and still break 7 minutes per mile. It’s no secret that running has not gone the best in the last few years, and my confidence to actually run fast again is not there.
I hit mile 4 of the Laguna Hills Memorial 10k in 6:40. From there, the last two miles were just focused on the end. I also knew there was a big hill somewhere at the end. I just didn’t realize it was from 6.0-6.2. There were a couple of smaller hills along the way.
I ran a 6:51 and 6:55 and then hit the hill at 6.0. It felt like I was walking, although I averaged 7:37 for the final bit. I crossed the Laguna Hills Memorial 10k in 42:21 and was the 5th woman/13th overall.
Laguna Hills Memorial 10k Thoughts:
I honestly haven’t been this happy with a race in a while. I’ve known I have the fitness to run under 7 minutes per mile in a 10k, but I just haven’t been able to put it together. I ran a minute faster than that, so it was a good day. I’m looking forward to a summer of speed and some faster races.
You can see Strava here and all race recaps here.
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Questions for you:
When was the last race that surprised you?
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