go speed racer

Isn’t it funny how an event can turn out the total opposite of what you expected?
I headed downtown this morning for the Rodeo Run 10K, which I’ve done three years in a row now. I was alone, since Rich bailed on me (he’s feeling sick). It was drizzling. It was cold. I almost stayed home, but figured I should at least drive downtown, after all, the weather can be totally different there since it’s 20 miles away.
It wasn’t. It was still rainy. It was still chilly. I’d left Clear Lake a bit late and then had to stop for gas and then I parked near the finish at Minute Maid Park and didn’t realize how far away that was from the start line. As a result, I ended up having to jog at least half a mile to even make it to the start line in time. I quickly threw my sweatshirt in a bag, picked up my chip, and no sooner than had I jumped into the crowd, the horn sounded to start the race. I waved to Roger Clemens, who was the honorary starter, as I crossed under the banner.
Whew. After the hectic half hour leading up to it, I was finally doing the race. The jog to the start line had warmed me up so I wasn’t cold, but it was still drizzly and generally yucky out. I was not enthused and not expecting to run a good race at all.
I was slightly surprised when I passed the first mile in 10:00 flat, not because I’d gone that fast (I have a bad tendency to start too fast) but because I still felt perfectly fine. Usually when I start too fast, I can tell by the first mile marker that I’ll feel it later. But not today.
“Hmm,” I thought. “Well, I’ll just keep going.” I walked through a water station and then passed mile 2 at 20:30, observing that I’d started to slow down, as expected. Did I mention I’m horrible at judging my pace?
The race leader passed me on his way back into town right before I hit mile 3, and I crossed the 5K mark in 31:30. Great so far, and I still felt decent, but I knew I had another 5K to go and I didn’t see how I could possibly keep up the pace, especially since I knew I’d have to climb the incline of the Elysian viaduct again on the return leg. It’s a slight hill, but still a hill, and come on — I haven’t finished a 10K in less than 1:05 since, well, my 1:03:12 personal record in the Rodeo Run last year.
After the water station at ~3.25 miles, I fell in behind a group of 4 runners. I thought they were running a pretty good pace, so I listened to their conversation for a while and hit mile 4 in 40:30. Whoa — that was a fast 4th mile! I’d sped up. I started thinking that maybe I could keep up the pace till the end.
The 5th mile was hardest, and I fell behind the 4 runners I’d been following. I passed mile 5 in 51:30 for an 11-minute mile. “Ah, now that’s more like me,” I thought, but was a little irked that I’d slowed after such a great first 4 miles. I decided to push myself through the final 1.2 miles and see what happened.
I focused on Minute Maid Park, and passed mile 6 in 1:01:25. It wasn’t until this point that I was sure that I had a chance to turn the rain and cold into a really good day for me. I held strong, turned the corner, and sprinted the last 100 meters to the finish line, crossing in…
1:03:10!
A new 10K personal record! Only by 2 seconds (my previous was 1:03:12) but still! A new PR! I’m very excited. This is just the thing I need to get me back in the saddle, and motivated again after being a (relative) slacker since the marathon. And it all happened on a nasty, cold, confusing, uninspiring day.