I had hoped to be faster at the Manhattan Beach 10K, but I had a perfect storm of events that led me to…well…not. As most people know, I was diagnosed with bronchitis in early August. The doctor said it would linger for a bit. I have good days and bad days, and the day of the Manhattan Beach 10K happened to be a not-great day, and I felt a bit of congestion in my lungs. It didn’t feel awful but more like breathing through a straw.
The Manhattan Beach 10K race day weather was also very hot. I’m really surprised they didn’t shorten the race because the end temperature was around 80 degrees, and you had minimal shade. Finally, I was just tired. I’m in the busy season of work, so I felt like I hadn’t gotten enough sleep. How’s that for a line of excuses? Kidding, it just meant I wasn’t going to run as fast as I would.
Before the Manhattan Beach 10K:
I ended up driving down to Manhattan Beach the morning of. It’s about a 100-minute drive (versus 3 hours through LA traffic if I did Friday before). It was an easy drive. I don’t love the parking situation for the Manhattan Beach 10K, but I found a spot, got my bib, and did a very easy 2-mile warmup. I was already sweating.
I was really confused because the Manhattan Beach 10K race start actually has two starts, and you can choose. I chose the “higher one” because I thought that it would be more downhill. I think it’s a little longer, but I kind of want to look into that. Anyway.
Manhattan Beach 10K Race:
The Manhattan Beach 10K race went off right at 7:30. It was congested, as you would expect, and the first mile was kind of downhill, and we joined with the other Manhattan Beach 10K race start around half to three-quarters of a mile. It was kind of interesting because we then doubled back on their start and then doubled back on our start. So we crossed both Manhattan Beach 10K start lines within two miles of the race. We also passed the final finishers, which I can’t imagine being swarmed by runners was fun for them either.
I ultimately decided I didn’t want to push myself as hard as I could for the 10K. I knew I wasn’t feeling my best and didn’t want to finish wrecked and miserable at the end. I wanted to feel cruisy and didn’t really look at my watch for much of the race. The first mile I ran in 6:45, followed by 6:54.
We crossed the second Manhattan Beach 10K start line and then headed out on the rest of the course (which got more hilly). I thought the race was “taking forever” and like I was never going to finish in the first half. Due to the heat, I grabbed water at every stop and made sure I was hydrated. I ran a 7:01 next mile and thought: well, here comes the regression, but realized we were mostly going uphill. After the halfway point, I started to feel motivated/better, and I also started passing people. The next mile was uneventful, and I ran a 6:54.
Mile 5 of the Manhattan Beach 10K is weird. You run over a grassy field, and I was worried I was going to roll an ankle, and then you head to a water stop followed by a very narrow path and then straight uphill. It’s a hard and demoralizing mile (especially at mile 5 of a 10K). But I got through it in 7:14.
The final mile is on the beach path, and you face the finish line the entire time. Since the Manhattan Beach 10K finish line is right near the pier, you can see it for the full mile. It feels like it never gets closer, and you weave through a lot of walkers just using the path. I pushed as hard as I had energy for and ran a 6:53.
I crossed the Manhattan Beach 10K finish line in 43:17, which was fine for the day.
Manhattan Beach 10K Thoughts:
Am I happy with the Manhattan Beach 10K race? I’m happy with how I ran it. It wasn’t my day, and it was very hot, so I adjusted accordingly. Sometimes that is all you can do. I would love to come back on a day I felt a bit better.
You can see Strava here and see all race recaps here.
Questions for you:
What is your favorite 10K?
What is the weirdest race course you’ve run?