Notes
This was a tough course. (Check out the GPS map) I didn't think I'd ever say this, but I think the hills were way worse than Akiron. It was like a combination of the Akron half and full into one evil course. The hills were more rolling than the Akron's full (16-26), but also steeper than Akron's half (11-13). The only saving grace was that it was only a 10 miler...and I think I actually held strong in the end...and could have pushed the pace down even more if it were a longer race.
On the other end of the spectrum, this is probably the most scenic course I've run so far in my short career. The race started in the complete darkness at 7am. It was cold and my knee was a little tweaky to start. I actually rather enjoyed the serenity of running with a bunch of other people in the darkness...it was just a bit different than what I've done in the past.
They said that the first three miles were supposed to be flat...Austin may have a different definition of flat, 'cuz to me, they were pretty much rolling hills...nothing terribly steep, but maybe a quick 3-5% elevation, up and down. Because my knee was tweaky, I ran these first 3 miles semi-conservatively. It takes a few miles for my knee to settle anyways, and I was still debating on whether I was gonna race it or not. I figured it couldn't hurt to run somewhere inbetween.
The tough part of the course were miles 4-7. It was basically the section that combined the steepness of Akron's heartrate with some extra distance, and similar repeats throughout the three mile stretch. One good thing is that because these hills were rolling, there were downhills that kind of offset the hills. I took my time on the uphills, and then just let loose on the downhills. This strategy made it a funny situation. I was running with a group of people, and on every hill, the group would pass me and gain some pretty good distance on me. Then once the downhill hit, I cruised right past them a few minutes later...only to have this repeat on every hill.
There were two streets that really came to mind...Pecos which had a horrendous hill that reminded me of Heartbreak but longer. Then there was Scenic Drive, which was even worse. Just before Scenic, was a slight downhill. I heard a a runner say to her friends as she broke away from the pack, "see you at the top.". I turned the corner and there it was in all it's glory. The saving grace was that they called it Scenic Drive for a reason. You are basically running the road on a side of a mountain that is adjacent to the lake. Across the lake are all the multi-million dollar houses over the lake. I was torn between the pain and the scenery! Although, the view alone made the entire race worthwhile. I basically ran up this hill with my head turned to the right the whole way. I think Scenic drive hit around mile 5.5. It felt like an eternity.
The last 7-10 were flat(ish). I noticed my pace had been push down into the mid-8's, so I figured since I had energy in the tank, I would actually race this part. Kristen had driven the course with me a few days earlier, and I recognized the area. After the hills debacle, this was a piece of cake. The best part about running the first 7 conservatively, is that once I decided to race, I was able to pass a ton of runners for the remainder of the race. I basically took the mentality of a 5k. I would just pick someone or pack of people, target them, pass them, then lather, rinse repeat. That made the final miles really enjoyable.
I was able to see the finish line about .3 miles ahead of me. Lots of people were cheering at the finish. Oh, and they were randomly calling out the names of the finishers. I was debating whether I wanted to break away from my pack to get my name called. Too bad breaking away would have meant slowing down, since I was already running pretty hard.
No medals or anything, but really this is a charity race and we did get nice t-shirts. Oh, and the post-race recovery food? Breakfast Tacos!!! How very Texas. :)
All-in-all it was a great experience for my first out-of-state race...a little more serene than Akron since there weren't too many people throughout the course. I would love to see what the rest of my running friends think about this one.
Notes:
no nummies
water at every offering