NOT SO Scenic 10 Miler - Race Report “WIND BLOWN”

I’m tired, I’m really tired. I usually wait to write my race report until later in the afternoon, once I’ve taken a well deserved 2 hour nap, but today, I’m typing at 11am. I just got home from the race.

Wind Blown is the best way to describe this race. Holy shit. The wind was howling today.
This race was horrible in terms of Scenery. This lady on the Runtex forum described it like this:

“I have heard some opinions that this will not, in fact, be a scenic course. I was expecting to like it just because it is my kinda thing, but I was surprised today to see that it is a very scenic course that many will appreciate. The first and last mile are about what you might be picturing, basic freeway, but the rest is pretty. Parts of the route includes a view of a large pastoral scene with trees, grass, and small ponds, and some of the views of more developed areas are really striking. I saw hawks and a heron flying around the area, and it was quiet and serene (construction is winding down).

Pardon my French, and sorry if I sound rude and mean, but she is a moron. Either she has a crack addiction, or she grew up in Inner City Detroit, because this was easily the ugliest course I’ve ever run. Where were the pastoral scenes with trees, grass, a pond? Ha, I think she’s lost her mind. This course was a highway from the Wells Branch Toll road, and up past Dell ON THE HIGHWAY. It was so far from scenic it was silly. Construction everywhere, and all we did was run on the highway, and overpasses. We did get to see a bunch of strip malls and Dell. Wooo Hooo! (I guess i now know what's it's like to run in strip mall infested Dallas!)

Anyway Macmillan claims I should run in 1hr 9 min 37 seconds.
I was very nervous, because it was cold as hell out there. About 40 degrees, and the wind was HOWLING. When I say howling, I mean HARD. Like 30-40mph wind AGAINST us for the first half, and during our warm-up miles, we ran into it. I figured, ok, this race is going to suck.

Long story short, I found a few guys that planned to run at my sub 7min pace, so we decided to draft off each other. That helped. I felt great. I ran hard, I ran strong, and the cool weather had me rockin’. I think my splits below tell my story.
I now have more confidence that I can run the marathon I want to run, but we’ll see. 10 Miles is nothing compared to 26.2.

I ROCKED THIS RACE!
(Goal: 6min 58second miles)

Mile 1 – 7:08
Mile 2 – 7:01
Mile 3 – 6:58 (took a GU half way through this Mile)
Mile 4 – 6:47
Mile 5 – 6:51
Mile 6 – 6:55 (took a GU 3/4 way through this Mile)
Mile 7 – 6:53
Mile 8 – 6:45 NICE!!!
Mile 9 – 6:30 OH YEAH!!!
Mile 10 – 5:51 HELL YEAH!!!

Final Time: 1:07:45
Pace per Mile: 6:46
MacMillan Goal: 1:09:37 / 6:58/Mile

I’LL SAY IT AGAIN…. I ROCKED THIS RACE!!!

Overall: 66th out of 1119 = 5.89%-ile
30 – 34 yr old Age Group: 11th out of 97 = 11.34%-ile