My No Frills 10k

This past Tuesday, I ran my first race, the South Jersey Athletic Club No Frills 10k, since the double trouble, about a month and a half ago. During this month and a half, I think I took two weeks off training so I had a feeling this race was going to be a huge step back. But i needed to get in some mileage and I need to start getting back on the horse if my NYC marathon experience is going to go well.

The race started right across from my girlfriends apartment building, so that guaranteed me at least one fan. It turns out, the throngs of other fans I was expecting never existed. Who would have thunk it. As has become a mantra for my most recent race experiences, i started off this race too fast. About halfway through the first mile, i realized i was in trouble at my current pace and slowed down a bit. About this time I got smoked by a guy pushing a stroller with a kid in it... seriously... but he was hella fast so i don't feel too bad about it.

The last few miles of the race were pretty uneventful... i got settled into a pace and in the last mile, one gentleman was trying to pass me, so I let him and then latched on to him. he pulled me all the way to the finish and then I outsprinted him in the last 200 meters. that is one of the great feelings when racing... kicking it in at the end and having the other person give up. even though I didn't know him, it was still a lot of fun for me. I guess that is my competitive spirit. my time ended up being 44:41 which is less then spectacular, cuz it is a 7:12 pace, which is 12 seconds slower per mile than my best 10 mile race which was only a short 3 months ago. obviously I have my work cut out for me in the upcoming months if I want to get ready for NYC. as soon as I get these damn stitches out, I am really going to focus on my running!! the running bug has hit me again... yay!