Frosty's Frozen 10 Mile Race Report

This is the second (or third, if you count both 10 mile races I did last year) time I've done this race, so I don't have a whole lot to write about.  I went into it wanting to improve on last year's races and hoping for a 10:15/mile split.  The goal was based upon my half marathon PR of 10:30 (from November's half ironman) and my 10k race last month. So that meant a race time of 1:41:30.  Hmmm.

Will actually wanted to run the 5 mile race (which is awesome and amazing) so we got to the race site at 8:30.  We found other AMC'ers, hung out, pinned on bibs and got them off to the start line.

I went back inside the lodge and messed around for a while until I saw some friends to briefly hang out with.  At 9:45 I got my stuff ready and headed out with a friend for a warm up - a full 30 min before the race start!  A first for me!  My plan was to run around to the last part of the run (the evil hill) and run to the finish with Will, but my timing was poor and I missed him.  I ended up doing 18 minutes of warming up, which is a new record and the closest I've come to doing my full 20-minute warm-up.

I managed to find Will when I was waiting for the start, say goodbye to him (he would have to wait nearly 2 hrs for me), and stand in the start area with my friends.  The plan was to do an easy build for the first 5 miles and hang on for the last 5 miles.  I had 10 oz of Osmo in my handled and 2 packets of Honey Stinger chews to eat during the race.  I also had my inhaler.  Good times!

I ended up running the first 4 or so miles with a friend, which was fun, except we ran WAY too fast.  My HR was really high but my effort didn't feel fast so I just went with it.  I felt rock star awesome up until mile 6, when things got hard.  I ran the first 5 miles straight then went to my 0.05 mi nutrition walk break every mile.

Mile 7 is when things started to get ugly.  I was having a hard time breathing so I had to use my inhaler.  It got caught in my tiny pocket so I had to walk a bit more than I had hoped.  Then running just became not super.  I sucked it up, mainly because I was also running to order #MegsMiles, a woman who was hit and killed Monday by a drunk driver during her morning run.  Those miles weren't fun, but I kept pushing because I was able to and Meg no longer could.

Around mile 8 I had my usual mile 20 Ironman thought, where nothing seemed better than curling up under a tree and taking a nap right then and there.

Mile 9 was another inhaler break.  I don't know what the deal was, I just could not get a real breath.  It sucked.  Then the final mile I just told myself to suck it up.  I was definitely running slower, but I told myself that slow running was faster than fast walking.

I hit the finish mat at 1:43:05, 1:30 slower than my goal.  According to my garmin, the course was long (10.09) which actually put me at a 10:12 pace.  So really, I should be happy.  But I'm not really.  This course is a slight downhill going out and slight uphill coming back, which makes it hard to negative split.  So I try to even split it.  Not even close.  My last 5 miles was 0:22/mile slower than my first.  Laaaame.

But I learned something. Don't run with friends in races!  And run slower!

I need to learn how to do cute poses while displaying my sponsor logos.  Bad athlete!

Post race I had to suck on my inhaler some more, which sent me into a really awesome multi-hour trembling fit from all the albuterol.  Will was napping in the car which meant I had to haul myself and all my crap (and my cramping legs) to the car solo.  And then we went to 5 Guys for burgers.  I was shaking so much that I had to brace my hands/burger on the table and eat like a little kid.  Not cool!

Not the best race, not the worst one either.  Definitely leaves room for improvement for the next 10 mile race in February.