Caring Parents Don't Shake 10K

We almost didn't get this race in due to weather (apparently, lightening does bad things to runners), but after about an hour and 10 minute delay, we got it started.

My father-in-law and I started in front of 40 other brave souls to make sure we had an accurate time; there were no timing chips; it was old school! I tried to stay out of everyone's way as they passed me; I think I saw 100 or so people pass me - including one dear lady with her walker.

My biggest struggle on this race was concentrating on running my race without getting caught up with running someone else's race. I had to remind myself over and over, as people either passed me or I saw them pull away, that I needed to focus on my goals:

1. At the very least, maintain 10 min miles.
2. Finish under an hour. This required <10 min miles, so I knew if I met this one, I'd meet number 1.
3. Keep running; don't walk or stop!
4. Don't die. This one can be complicated as we usually aren't in control of when this happens, but as I'm writing this now, I can say, "Mission Accomplished for #4."

I can say, as I've already said for #4, "Mission Accomplished!" I did have my pace alarms set for 10 min too slow, and 9 min too fast, so that helped a lot.

I ran my guts out for the last tenth to finish under 59 minutes; I tend to get loud when I run hard, so I had everyone's attention when I finished......

Coulda, woulda, shoulda: If this race had been run just 12 days from now, I would have placed first in my age group. There were no male participants aged 45-49.

As it was, I placed 5th in my age group...out of 5. I also placed 29th overall out of 42. In contrast, my father-in-law placed 1st in his age group out of 3 and 12th overall with a 47:38.

Once again, I am very encouraged by this race! My 4 mile split time was 38:14, which is nearly two minutes faster than my race time last month! I have real hope that I can maintain 10 min miles for my upcoming mini on May 5th.