31st Annual Roseville Big Bird 10k Race Report

I tackled my first 10k race this past Sunday. When I run my training workout I’ll usually listen to a podcast to occupy my mind and keep it off the “how much distance is left” train of thought. For races, on the other hand, I leave the iPod at home and enjoy the sights and sounds of the environment.  This 10k was my first run longer than a few miles that I’ve done without any personally supplied audio and I found that the course allowed me a lot of time to think about the race while I was in it. After reading race reports on various blogs lately I figured I’d give it a go. I didn’t record my splits so I’ll just go by the miles.

Start: Felt pretty good lining up. I was a little nervous, no hills are my training routes and I had the route’s pedestrian highway overpass worked up to about the size of Mt Everest in my head.

Mile 1: Should have warmed up more, legs were a little tight and my shins were complaining a bit. The split was announced around 10:15 which was a little faster than I was going for, mental note “5 miles to go let’s slow down a bit”. Around the 1.5 mile mark another runner came up and wanted to chat. I’m not the overly social type, but the race day camaraderie brought out my inner extrovert and we talked a little until he took off.

Mile 2: The split put me back on pace and just ahead loomed my mental Everest. The bridge didn’t end up being anywhere near as bad as I thought and, of course, the downhill was a nice break. About a quarter mile after the hill my body really relaxed, locked into my pace and cruise control kicked in.

Mile 3: Split was on pace and I was still feeling good. There was a water station not far past the mile mark and I figured I’d take advantage of it seeing as I had never used one and, you know, people always look cool when the throw the cup to the side of the road. Lesson: drinking water from a paper cup while running is hard and I’m pretty sure I didn’t manage the “cool” look. At all. After the water station there was a couple on their porch with two giant speakers blaring some song I didn’t recognize, but it had a good beat and was fun to run to. I’m learning to love little things like that.

Mile 4: Pace slowed down a bit but still in the zone and enjoying the run.

Mile 5: Ok, I’m getting tired now and I know that bridge is waiting around one of these corners…. Once again, going up sucked and coming down was a nice break. Some kids were lined up on the sidewalk asking for thumbs ups (is that how you pluralize thumbs up?) and high fives. I gave them all a high five and they seemed to get a kick out of it and it gave me a good laugh.

Mile 5.5-6.2: This stretch was a little rough. Nothing overwhelming, just an “I’m tired aren’t we done yet kind of thing”. My finishing time was 1:06 which put me at a 10:38 per mile pace which was right what I was shooting for.

Overall the whole race was a great experience. It’s no longer a mystery why people sign up to do these as often as they can. It’s fun to get out with a whole bunch of people who love hitting the pavement as much as you do. I’m not sure what the motivation is for folks to get out on their porches, set up personal water stations in their driveways, play music for us and cheer us on, but I do know that it’s appreciated and it makes the run a lot more fun.  Only have 16 days until the Detroit Turkey Trot 10k and I can’t wait for that.

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