Now that my phone line problems have been fixed, I can finally give my race report from last Sunday.

IRC: 54F, sunny and no wind.

Time: 50:20.5 (8:07/mi).

Results: 60-64 AG: 7/60; Males:560/2083; OA: 689/3847.

This was the 32nd year for The Redondo Beach 10k. It runs right along the Pacific Ocean, starting right at the historic Redondo Beach Pier and King Harbor Marina. On beautiful days like last Sunday, it truly is a picture postcard backdrop to the race. There is also a 5k race and a baby buggy 10k (real babies required-no dolls allowed).

When I woke up on Saturday morning the rains were almost monsoonal. I was sure that we were going to be running in the rain on Sunday. However, I reminded myself that this was why I did all those training runs in the rain. By evening the rains had stopped, but the forcast was for high winds along the coast Sunday morning; my least favorite running weather. When morning dawned on Sunday though, it was a beautiful sunny day and no winds.

I rode to the race with members of my running club, with the plan of running back home after the race (more on that later) to get in my 16 mile long run. Most of the members ran the 5k, so I started my warm-up by running with one guy over the last mile almost to the finish line and then continued on for another mile for a two mile warm-up.

I lined up as near the front as I could since the street the race starts on is very narrow and takes a right turn very quickly. With that many people it's easy to get pushed to the back right away.

Being in a crowd did however, worked to my advantage since I sometimes have the tendency to go out to fast.

I got to the first mile in 8:20 Garmin time, with the clock saying 8:10, which was right where I wanted to be since my goal was to do around 8/mile. For the rest of the race though there was no one calling out times, so I was a little off in pushing the button of my watch for mile times since I was not always looking for the mile markers. By mile two the pack was starting to thin out and my time for that mile was 8:22. Mile 3 and 4 go down hill a little bit so my times were a little faster 7:59 and 7:33. At mile 5 the incline back to the finish line begins, ending with a big hill at mile 6. My times were 8:03 and 8:11. Usually I have trouble with that hill but this year because I have been doing alot of hill work for my marathon in May, I charged up that hill passing alot of people along the way. The last .2 miles of the race is downhill and you can really fly to the finish line which I did in 1:58. What really helped me was the bagpipe player who was standing right at the top of the hill. He was playing "Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled," If you remember the last scene in Braveheart, that's what Robert the Bruce says to his men at the Battle of Bannockburn. "You bled with Wallace now bleed with me." Being Scottish that music gets me fired up anyway but when I heard it in the race, I put my fist in the air and sprinted to the finish line! My goal was to be under 50 min. but that hill slowed my down just enough that I came in at 50:20. I was still happy with that time because it is a PR for the 10K.

I also found out from this race, that I am a pretty good coach. My running partner is a 48 yr. old female who has some real talent for running but has not been racing that long and so she does not have alot of confidence in her running. She kept telling me that she could not do better than 9 minute miles in a 10k. Well, I knew that she did a half-marathon last year in which she ran at a 9:30 min pace. She was also doing 3 mile tempo runs in our training @8:30/mi. I knew she would do under 9 in this race and she did. Her time was 53:33 (8:37/mi). I think I got more joy from that than my own time!

Now that the race was over, it was time for the 8 mile run back home. Yeah, right! I made it only 2.5 miles at a slow pace before the legs said "are you kidding? If you're lucky, we might carry you to the bus stop!" Yes, I did bring money for the bus just in case. I took it as a sign that I had run my best in the 10k and had nothing left.

It was also a good day for our running club. 2nd place in M75-79; 3rd place in M70-74 and 4th in F30-34.

Well, this is getting to long so I will close. Thanks for reading my report.

Bruce

Having a big hill near the end of a race is tough, but you didn’t let it slow you down.  Congratulations on your 10K PR! 

And smart move to bring bus fare, because you really never know how much you’ll have left in you after a good race.

Bruce,

Very nice job racing and coaching!  Yes, wasn't that weather lovely?   You ran a strong race, especially with all those other runners and the hill at the end.  That hill has been a stumbling block to people I know, so you did real well.  Hopefully we can meet up again soon. 

OCBrian: You did not misunderstand. I had forgotten to turn the autolap function on before the race. I run most days at the local HS track and as you may know, autolap does not work well on the track. Thanks for asking.

Bruce

Nice racing, BC.  Congrats on your PR and your coaching.

TomS