Conquer the Hill 10K

There is truth in advertising. At least when it comes to the Conquer the Hill 10k. I truly dread this race. So much that I secretly wish to be busy on the 4th of July so that I'll have an excuse not to run it. This year, I had nothing else to do, so I got up early (my kind of early... 6:30) so that I could get to the race to register by 7:30.

My goal is to PR at every distance I race before I graduate from the 40-44 age group. I'm 44 so I want to leave this bracket with a bang. Anythng under 59:00 would have done it for me. My goal was 54:xx which I think is supported by my training. Any other 10k, I might have stood a chance. Not this one.

As the name suggests, this race has hills. One significant hill, in particular. It comes immediately at the start of the race and doesn't crest until you almost hit the 1 mile mark. It's a 200 foot climb. Yes, what goes up does come down, but I was never able to recoup what I lost on the ups. I gave it my all in the effort department. I passed alot of other runners and even beat a few men who have beat me before. I ran on tired legs -- a cumulative fatigue from racing on Saturday, trail running on Sunday, weight training on Monday, and running yesterday. I raced this one for fun, though, so I'm not disappointed with my performance. My legs felt tired at mile 5 but I kept the momentum going. I noticed that I had no "kick" left at the end and even entertained thoughts of walking with only .2 left to go. Can you believe it? I literally had nothing left at the end of this race.

By the way, the course is almost entirely residential. This race is a big deal to the community and lots of people were out in their yards cheering us on. Sprinklers were on too and with the starting temperature in the low 70s, I did my best to run under the sprinklers. My timing was woefully off! The race was well-supported with water stops every mile. All in all, a difficult course, but an enjoyable experience. Somewhere after mile 4 a man ran up next to me, and I swear he was flirting with me! "I really like that skirt." and "You have a really nice voice" (after I screamed at some 4 abreast walkers to move to the right). I told him my husband was at the corner and he took off. Oh, well...

My official finish time is 56:56. It's at least a 2.5-3 minute PR for me. I came in 5th in my age group. I think there were 19 in my group. Here are my splits (maybe I ran up the first hill a little fast :) )

Mile 1 9:09
Mile 2 8:21
Mile 3 9:10
Mile 4 9:44
Mile 5 9:07
Mile 6 9:10
.26 9:13