Race Report: Colorado Springs 10K Classic

I got up at 5:00 and it was 65 degrees and looking like rain. Rain in the morning is very rare here so that was kinda weird. Anyway, I was on the road around 5:30 and got to the race start area around 6:15. They had a sweet setup. The start was by an office park, so chip/shirt pickup was inside. Real bathrooms too! Ahhhh...the luxury. I stretched a little and walked around some until they started lining us up. I was so nervous that my stomach hurt because I wanted to finish sub-60 so bad.

The race started exactly on time at 7:00, which seems to not happen very often. My absolute worst experience with a race starting late was the Turkey Day 5K in Highlands Ranch a few years ago. It was freezing and the wind was crazy and they kept pushing back the start because they weren't finished registering all the people yet. It was awful.

Mile 1 felt great. I had to run around alot of people who were in my way, which is still a novelty for me. I used to be so much slower than most other runners. The mile was over almost before I even realized I was running and felt totally effortless. Mile 1 time: 8:54.8

As mile 2 started, I decided to slow down a bit and save my energy for later. It felt pretty good too. Mile 2 time: 17:58.8

By mile 3 though, I was really starting to feel the fact that I was running significantly faster than most of my longer training runs. It still felt ok, until I hit the first hill. It wasn't too long though, and I managed it ok. Mile 3 time: 27:14.0

I don't really remember mile 4 at all. Strange, huh? Mile 4 time: 36:29.0

Mile 5 is very memorable however for the very short but very steep hill at about 5.3 miles. I thought my lungs were going to come up through my throat. Mile 5 time: 45:31.8

During mile 6, I kept trying to pass people to keep my pace up, and I actually did pass a few people. Most of them passed me again also, but a few stayed behind. Mile 6 time: 55:15.8

I swear that those last .2 miles were a full 1/2 mile long. It would not surprise me at all if tomorrow I heard that they mis-measured it. I was running all out as hard as I could, and it still took me over 3 minutes. It just doesn't make sense. Maybe I just had nothing left...I don't know. Anyway...

Final time: 58:47.9

I did it! I got a PR and came in under 60 minutes. I am so freakin' excited!!! That was the time on my stopwatch. I'll have to see what my official time is when they post race results. I was too busy messing with my stopwatch at the end to see the official time on the board, but I know it started with a 58 or 59.

My next challenge is the Golden Leaf Half Marathon at the end of September. I may run another 10K between now and then, but I haven't decided. Some of that depends on how busy my new job is keeping me. We'll see... (Oh, and it never did rain. The weather was great. 65 degrees and a little overcast.)