Central, LA
Pre-race
Usually I’m a little nervous before a race but today I didn’t set any goals until I started running. It was about 57 degrees and I thought it would be perfect conditions to run in. Breathing colder air than I was used to while running was horrible but I pushed through. I couldn’t really hear the mega phone one second I was just standing around then it was 5-4-3-2-1 Gooooo and we were off and running! So no time for a pre-race picture…
Mile 1 – 8:29
I wasn’t really sure what my pacing was gonna be like going out. My legs were sore from an increase in activity during the week. I ran the first half of my last 10K in 27:30 and I knew I had that in me on a normal day. I started out way too far back. I had to weave through so many people for the first half mile or so. About .7 miles in we ran into a school in Central and I checked my watched it said 8:29 and I thought it’s gonna be hard to stay at this pace with my breathing like it was. First mile I pushed through and held the pace.
Mile 2 – 9:23
Nice tour through a Central neighborhood. This mile my legs were feeling it but my fallback pace is anything under 9:39 and it is a good day. So I was beating that pace. At this point I desperately wanted some water so anxiously awaiting a water table. I don’t really remember much else from this part of the race other than thinking did I go out too fast and I’m really thirsty.
Mile 3 – 9:06
This is pretty much a straight away to finish the race. I checked my watch and I was right above a 9:02 average pace I wanted to see 8 minutes on my watch so bad so I picked the pace up to finish strong. There was a 12 year that was right around my pace the entire race. I had to pick up the pace a little more to let the young one know it wasn’t her time yet lol.
The finish – 8:00
Picked up the pace for good measure and my watch read 8:57 mission accomplished!
Conclusion
Fun race and it’s always awesome to know the course before hand. I’ll definitely be back next year hopefully way faster!! I also hit a new high V02 Max 46 with this run. Didn’t stick around for the free pancakes though.
