Swedish Summer Run 10k 2009

A while ago my Mom decided on a 10k to run in preperation for running the nike half marathon in October. She choose teh Swedish SummerRun because she liked that it was in support of the Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research. I decided to run it in support of my Mom and because why not it is a 10k and would be a good bench mark for my marathon training.
On July 27th my Mom picked me up at 6am and we headed to the start. I have to say I looked at the course map a bit but there was no elevation map and since it was "just" a 10k did not really worry about it much. So it was not til that morning that I really figured out that the course is actually very hilly. Oh well no really time goal mostly Kainoa wanted me to run negatives and push myself and see what I could do.
Ok so we got there super early, got front row parking pretty much, no lines at the porta potties and I had plenty of time to do my :20 min warm up. My Mom fallowed behind me and we ran around the block a few times and added a few pick ups just to get the heart rate up.
The 10k runners lined up at the start after they did a aerobics warm up thing that i have never seen at at he start of race before but most people seemed to have fun with it. We started not to far forward but not to far back either. We wished each other luck and we were off and running.
My race plan was to start conservative and then pick up the effort through out and finish as strong and fast as I could not leaving anything for later. Just run hard.
I think teh chart from my garmin shows it best. The grey line is the elevation and the red is my heart rate.

I did my best to keep at it even up the hills that seemed to go on forever. I seriously think it was 2 miles of flat/downhill and 4 miles of uphill. The weirdest part of the race was how quiet it was all you could hear was shoes hitting the pavement and nothing else except one lady that every time she saw a volunteer she thanked them.
Since they had water on the course and it was only a 10k I decided not to carry my own liquids which was kind of nice except I did manage to get water up my nose at one point which was fun... After that I mostly just tossed the water on my head.
The kind of annoying part was when the 5k merged with the 10k course and a lot of the 5k people were all over the road with strollers and everything.

Since I did not know the course I just focused on increasing my effort as I went hills or no hills.. well there were lots of hills even up to the finish line. I heard Chris (Kainoa's Husband cheer me on) and then saw Jerry and the finish line.


My mile splits were
1 - 7:59
2 - 7:54
3 - 7:35
4 - 9:16
5 - 8:30
6 - 7:20
.34 - 2:48

Gun Time 00:51:34
Chip Time 00:51:23
Average Pace 00:08:17

20-29 AG 5th/134

Not a PR for me but I am happy with the effort and I followed my race plan so I would call it a good race :)

My mom also did a great job. She kept running up all the hills and I am so proud of her. She is so cute look at that smile :)
My Mom's final times
Gun Time 01:04:50
Chip Time 01:04:37
Average Pace 00:10:24

50-59 AG 10th/24

A good day all in all for Team Super Cute

ran myself into the ground

It started on Friday morning I did a 45 min run with my friend Cynthia that I never get to see. It was a nice casual run that was more just for fun and an excuse to hang out and catch up. We ran from Vasa park on west lake samm road - it was great, a few little rollers but mostly flat. We started pretty early in the morning and I did not even think about grabbing my heart rate monitor or garmin until I got to our meeting spot. Not a big deal but it was weird running with out knowing all that data.

Then Saturday Kyle wanted to run instead of bike so we ran. We ran down the hill for a good warm up and the headed out on west lake sammamish road. As planned I ran the 1st 30 min at an easy zone 2 pace/effort just focused on loosening up and finding a rhythm. At the turn around point - 4 miles or so I picked up the pace and pushed up to zone 3 for 30 min. It was tuff but I was able to run sub 8 min miles consistently even up a couple small hills. I gave myself a 15 min to cool down before having to run back up the mile long steep hill. I felt great afterwards and was happy with my pace mid run when I picked up the intensity.

Sunday morning nike, Starbucks, Road Runners and Seattle Parks did a mini/free version of the human race at green lake. Completely low key we got there around 8 am and registered after getting some warm caffeine. I was able to talk Lincoln - one of the guys I work into showing up as well - it was his first ever run event. I think only like 50 or so people showed up for the event so it was very low key - so low key we did not even do a warm up jog The race started and Kyle was off with the leaders. Lincoln tried to hold his pace for the first mile or so. As usual I went off the line a little more moderate since I did not do a warm up or anything. I kept Lincoln and Kyle in my sights for a little over a mile or so then Kyle started to pull away - he felt good. I just continued to pick up the pace as I went.
The course went once around the inner trail then a second time half on the outer trail and half on the inner. I kept Lincoln in my sights until a little over 3 miles I passed him. I tried to cheer him on to stay with me but he did not seem to interested. So I kept going. With a mile to go I tried to pick the pace up again. I felt pretty good but a little fatigued from the day before. In teh end I finished in about 46 min which I am happy with and it was good prep mentally for the 10k of my upcoming Olympic distance triathlon.
Instead of heading straight home for the ice bath I should have taken we wandered around the shops at green lake. Then by the evening my calves were already starting to feel sore and i was asleep by 9 pm or so.

Monday I slept in a bit while Kyle got a ride in then headed off to help Fisher skis out at a ski show. Once up it hurt to walk my calves were so sore - especially barefoot. Buy hey if it hurts to walk then why not go for a hilly bike ride... I headed out on a ride planning to ride anywhere between 2 - 3 hours depending on how I felt. I did not feel sore but my legs had no pep well actually I had no pep - it was not just my legs. I could not get my cadance over 76 rpm when usually I'm up around 80-90 rpm. But still I kept with my planned hilly route - figured I just needed to warm up or something. I climbed up Inglewood hill over the plateau and it has never been soo difficult or slow (well in a long time). I had to stand almost the entire way. It sucked. I continued on and I had to stand up to get up most of the rollers. At this point all I can think about is getting to my mom's house and hoping she is home so I can take a rest.
Luckily after climbing another hill I reached my mom's house and Jerry and her were home. She hooked me up with a wonderful piece of warm blueberry pie and some vanilla ice cream. It was exactly what I needed.
I decided to cut my ride short and just ride home from my mom's house via hwy 202 straight home - at least it does not have any crazy climbs. It was still a struggle to make it home - I just felt warn down. Once home I took a hot shower and immediately laid down for a 2 hour nap and I was back asleep in bed by 9 pm.

I woke up Tueday morning and still felt wiped out so all I did was pilates to help stretch out and even came home and took a nap after work.

Today (Thursday) I am starting to feel back to normal - I went for an hour run with Marissa and by mile 5 my calves started feel sore again. So now I'm sitting on the couch with my feet up and ice packs under each calf.. All I can think is it is a good thing tomorrow is a swim day.