Kiwanis Midnight Run 10K
34th male (35th overall), 1st age group - they had nice age group plaques (and they went 5 deep and for under 18 years old they had 2 year age groups, so lots of awards).
I've done very little speed or tempo runs and probably would not have signed up for this race due to fear of running a race without being prepared, but Jacob wanted to run it (Kudos to him since he has pretty much not been running except here and there with me and whatever they are doing in wrestling practice).
Weather - hot and humid and dark, as it usually is near midnight in July in Florida.
User error - I thought the race started at 12:00, actually started at 11:50, so my warmup was pretty abbreviated. Also user error was not verifying equipment was working. I had a headlamp for the very dark portion inside the park, but it was flapping around if I wore it on my head (it was supposed to stay at a set angle, but it was bouncing up and down instead), so I carried it instead.
My goal was to beat my time from 3 years ago, not that I'm faster now, but three years ago you could run the 5k and 10k. Ran the 5k in 2016 in 21 minutes and a few seconds and was pretty wiped out, so did a moderate effort on the 10k with a 7:32 pace.
So this year, wasn't sure what kind of pace I would get on, but ended up with 7:14 for the first mile. Ok, that's good, just hold onto that or at least don't slow down much. Next mile was 7:21. Ok, I think I can do this. Mile 3 was 7:23, almost at the turn around, glad I had the headlamp in my hand. Turnaround, mile 4 7:25. Ok, a little bit slower but still holding. Mile markers are getting a little bit off. I think there was some weaving.
Mile 5, 7:23, felt very hard but I didn't slow down but really wanted to. More weaving. The 10k started at 11:50, the 5k started at 12:00. So now, we are running into the slower 5k runners, had to run into the oncoming lane to get around some of the groups. Tried a few "on your left" shouts but did not help. Not a big deal, just part of the race experience.
With just over a mile to go was still looking pretty far away.
Mile 6, 7:20. Ok!
But the finish still looks a little bit far.
The last I looked at the clock it said 46:07.
Finish time was 46:13.
Last 0.31 mile was 6:53 pace, I really wanted to get through that finish line.
Garmin pace was 7:20, but the official pace was 7:27, still beat 3 years ago time!
Jessica was at the finish with Sophia and Aubrey. Scott was also there looking for Jacob. Grabbed some water and want back to the corner to look for Jacob. He was hoping for about 50 minutes, came in around 55. Was running with one of the CC girls from his high school. They were together for the start, then he got ahead and was ahead until last quarter mile when she caught him and gained an extra 10 seconds on him. He got 4th age group.
We stayed around for prizes. When I got my AG plaque, the lady told me to also pick a prize from the door prize pile - I took a small hibachi grill.
It was after 2:00 am when we left.
Also, happy birthday Sophia!
| 