Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 10K Race Recap

Wow, what a title right? Although I also could have titled it the greatest race of my life. Wanna know why? Yeah I thought you might.

The week leading up to the race wasn't a great one. Stress at work, general grumpiness etc. etc. etc. So I really wasn't expecting much as far as performance but I wanted to get a 10K in really badly before the marathon relay this Saturday so I thought What the hell and signed up. The atmosphere at Komen events is like none other. Pink everywhere and people....so...many...people. For someone who hates crowds (i.e. ME) there are few things that will lure me to a crowded place. Races just tend to be one of those things. Anyway, there was a great survivors parade and all kinds of booths and music and general funness. What there wasn't plenty of was parking. Which I guess is the norm for an event of this caliber.

Survivors' Parade

Great Ladies I never got the chance to meet...

Seriously packed at the start!

Autumn Alexis, The Colonel and I got in line at the start and realized our green bibs were awkwardly out of place and surrounded by white ones. We kept peeking at people until finally someone pointed us out and said all the white bibs were walkers. We apparently belonged up front and everyone parted and let us move up. Kind of like how when people find out you're a great dancer and they start to back up until they form a circle around you on the dance floor...anyone? No one? Not familiar? Hmm...just me then. Anyway, we got up to where we "belonged" and before long we were off. Autumn hung back with me for about a second before she was off. The Colonel went on and on about wanting to run "with" me beforehand since it was his first 10K. I'd told him roughly a billion times that he was much faster than me and that I would do nothing but slow him down. He doesn't listen well. He suggested we stay around a 10 or 11 minute mile which I quickly poo-poo'd informing him that I was a 12-13 minute miler on a pretty great day. He rolled his eyes and ran on. I was really excited to try out my new interval of running a mile and walking a minute. About 12 and a half minutes later I said to The Colonel, "Man! I must be really slow today!" because I still had yet to even glimpse a mile marker. There was a turnaround point and in the group of runners coming back towards us I saw Autumn! I was really excited as usual and figured the turnaround was a little ways away. It wasn't. It came up really fast. But I knew I wasn't anywhere close to her pace so I started to worry that her knee was bothering her again. On we went, me just trying to keep Colonel in my sights then him dropping back and me being pissed about it. We avoided some strategically placed roadkill before I finally told him to go ahead and he finally listened. We reached the 5k/10k split (without passing a single mile marker) and I had that familiar feeling of running the marathon again. [Sidebar: In 2010 when I ran the marathon, 12,000 people signed up for the race which was a mini (half) and full marathon. Only about 2,500 of those did the full marathon so at the split I instantly went from being surrounded to running what felt like death row. Made me rethink the marathon thing. Have I mentioned I've never done another one?] A great majority of runners were doing the 5k and all of the walkers were doing the same distance so I took the 10k split with 399 other runners. Into Iroquois Park we went. Iroquois is known for it's ridiculous long slow climbing hills so to say I was thrilled would be a bit of an overstatement...or complete lie. By this point I was on a run 15/walk 1 interval since there were no mile markers. I knew I was at least faster than 15 min/mi. I stuck to my intervals religiously until what I now know was about 5 or so miles in when I walked a 1:30 interval because I had just destroyed a nasty hill and ran an extra few seconds to do it. Just when I started wondering how much farther we had to go a woman's GPS called out "5 miles". Excellent! Best news I'd heard all day. It wasn't until 2 seconds after that that I noticed my shins starting to hurt. FIVE MILES IN! If that's not improvement then I don't know what is! Just as I was about to hit my last walk interval I heard the crowd at the finish line cheering. Well I knew I couldn't stop then so I ran on. I finished this race feeling phenomenal! Like I could climb a mountain! It speaks volumes about my new "base" fitness level. I was expecting 6.2 miles to feel like 30 and it felt more like...well, 5-6.2. Here are my official results...brace yourself!

Name:	Rennay Cooke	Division:	Female 20 to 24	City, State:	Louisville, KY
Bib:	2681	Division Place:	15	Total Division:	22
Age:	24	Gender:	F	Gender Place:	209
10K - Timed Place:	322	Chip Time:	1:04:21	Pace:	10:23/M
1st Half Rank:	317	1st Half Time:	29:56	1st Half Pace:	9:59/M
2nd Half Rank:	320	2nd Half Time:	34:25	2nd Half Pace:	11:28/M

WHAT????!!!!!????! A 29:56 5k split?! And a 34:25 second 5k?! Who was I? Not to mention the 10:23 average mile. I was completely floored when I checked my watch and saw 1:04:49, especially when I saw online that it was actually 1:04:21. My last 5 mile time was around 1:06 to give you a frame of reference. I've now learned that I train WAY too slow and really run scared a lot. I'm super cautious when it comes to training but I think I need to give myself a little credit and just see what I can do. During a lot of training runs I throw out a 10:somethingorother mile time and say, "Oh! That's too fast! I can't hold that!" and I slow way way down. Maybe there's something to be said for not having mile markers and clocks and GPS trackers. While you ponder that, here are some more pictures.

The Colonel in the flesh after his first 10K finish!

The Whole Gang!