Run for the Stars 10K Race Weekend

Whew!!! What a whirlwind of a weekend! Busy times with the Run for the Stars 10K, friend’s wedding, and miscellaneous errands. Friday ended up being a pretty long day with the rehearsal dinner for my friend Jody’s wedding, so ended up missing my scheduled run. I wasn’t too overly upset about this, because the race was the next day, but was pretty disappointed in general with erratic running this week, not to mention terrible diet. That WILL change moving forward. Got home late on Friday from the wedding rehearsal, completely passed out on the couch.

Race Morning

Woke up bright and early, ate a quick breakfast of yogurt and peanut butter crackers, then headed over to Pat and Crystal’s to ride together for the race. Decided to give my old 903’s one more shot at glory before race retirement - hadn’t touched them since the STL Half Marathon mess so cleaned them up for their final performance. Got situated, surveyed the scene, and started warming up. Crystal, Stacy, and I did a 10 minute shakeout run, then a few strides right before the race. Weather was in the 70’s and pretty sunny – slightly humid, but all things aside pretty nice conditions considering how St. Louis usually is in June. The race was in Forest Park, right by the St. Louis Science Center, and had a pretty decent turnout of around 600 runners - the course was pretty much light rolling hills, and got a good idea of the start/finish during our warmup.

At the Start

Lined up in the front, talked race strategy with Crystal. Talked with one of the guys from my running team that was running, and exchanged pleasantries with a few other runners that were closeby. Watched an eclectically dressed runner warm up in front of us, and whispered to Crystal that there was no way we were going to let this guy beat us (he didn't). Set my MP3 player to radio, and tried to get focused for the race. Had a few butterflies since I hadn’t raced in a couple months, and was nervous since I didn’t know what to expect never having raced this distance before.

Weird runner guy

Mile By Mile Report

Mile 1 – Gun went off, and away we went! Went off with my team member and two other guys, and pretty much blazed through the first mile. Stride felt relaxed, but was kind of worried since I noticeably felt dehydrated. We started on long, slight downhill, and worked into a flat area before making our way up a longer hill. Saw my pace was pretty quick (~5:30) and kind of chastised myself for running with the 5K lead pack, and made myself slow down and run my own race. [Mile Split - 6:03]

Mile 2 – Watched the 5K leader break off and completely separate himself from everybody, and settled in following a couple runners. Legs still felt ok, and the faster pace felt fine at this point – still a bit dehydrated. We were weaving through Forest Park, and had some decent scenery to distract us while we were running. Hit a few steep hills that slowed me down, but recovered from the most part. I think two people passed me at this point, but kept my position behind my “pacers”. [Mile Split – 6:07]

Mile 3 – Hit a few hills, legs started to get heavy. My pace group was starting to speed up, so was struggling to keep the aggressive pace. The 5K and 10K broke off a little past halfway of the 3^rd mile, and I was in 2^nd or 3^rd place at this point. I had evil thoughts of just running the 5K since I was on 5K PR pace and had a bit left for a massive final kick, but motored on the 10K route. At this point, the turnoff became a really small, rocky trail, so was a lot different than running on the road and had to adjust my stride. The leader of the pack was pretty far ahead of me, so was pretty much pacing myself at this point. Kind of running into a slight wind, so felt myself slowing down trying to settle into a better rhythm. A couple runners passed me at the end of this mile, and my hopes and dreams of a top 3 finish were rapidly disappearing. [Mile Split – 6:29]

Mile 4 – We finally exited from the rocky trail, and made our way back onto the roads again but right into an uphill. Definitely wasn’t feeling too good, and heard a couple runners gaining ground on me. Was slowly passed by three runners, and hung on the coat tails of that group. Crystal was behind me about 30 seconds behind, and I found out at this point that those runners were working off me for a while - race tactics, I would have done the same thing. Pretty tired, slowed down a bit on the straightaway but regrouped and caught back up to the pack on a long uphill. [Mile Split – 6:40]

Mile 5 – Was feeling like crap at this point, and was still working with the same group. Ran stride for stride with one of the runners for a while, and I checked behind and didn’t see anyone too close. I asked him what age group he was in, and he said he was about to ask me the same thing – he was in the 40-49, so I told him “have fun”, and dropped pace. Wasn’t really feeling it, and didn’t want to really kill myself and suffer through the last 1.5 miles, so fell back to a serviceable pace. My goal of top 3 overall was pretty much doomed at this point, so that factored in my decision. We merged with the remaining 5K runners/walkers partway through, and had to weave a bit but felt a little better for the most part. [Mile Split– 6:37]

Mile 6 and Finish – Felt pretty tired, but was motoring along. Saw Pat and his parents on the side of the road which was very nice to see some friendly faces. My friend Dave and his girlfriend (they ran the 5K) were at the last quarter mile as well, so glad to see them too. The pack that I let go was about 100 meters in front of me, but didn’t have much of a kick to catch them especially with the uphill finish (almost half a mile) so just cruised in. [Mile Split – 6:37, 2:01 for last 0.2]

RESULTS
Peter Kim M29
Clock Time 40:38
Chip Time 40:34
Overall Place 8/230
Gender Place 8/?
Division Place 1/17

Pace 6:33/Mile (Garmin had 6:27 pace, course might have been 0.1 miles long)

Final Thoughts

Had mixed feelings about the race, but overall was pleased with the result. Probably should have tried to hang with the pack at the end, but most likely would have been outkicked at the end anyways as my legs weren’t feeling it that day. A little disappointed in the time, but ran hard so it is what it is. Immediately after the race, went to get some water then watch everyone else finish. Crystal came in shortly after, and we walked to get some refreshments. One of the race directors came running up after us, and got her name and hometown – turns out she was the first female finisher, and she won the race!!! Awesome job by Crystal, and I was absolutely ecstatic for her and thrilled she brought home a victory! We went back towards the course, and waited for Pat’s brother Jeff (his first race as well) and Stacy to finish. I totally missed Jeff, but did see Stacy – ran in with her with Jeff and Crystal, and she kicked hard to finish. Fantastic effort for her, and she broke her own personal time goal! (so did Jeff!). Way to go, Jeff and Stacy!!! Stayed around for the awards ceremony – Crystal got a nice plaque for her win, and I found out later that I won my age group (a plaque also) so was nice to bring home some hardware :)

Group photo

Proud winners :)

Hung out in the parking lot for some celebratory beers, and went to get lunch in the University City Loop at a pizza place called Dewey’s – great pizza! Afterwards, went home and got ready for my friend’s wedding, and had a very nice time at a beautiful wedding and reception. Stayed out somewhat late, and had quite a few adult beverages throughout the night.

Sunday morning, got some early texts from Crystal trying to get me up for our long run. Definitely wasn’t feeling too hot, but decided it was better to get it over with. Weather was warm – overcast, and prob in the 70’s. We did an out and back loop, running towards Glen Carbon. First 3 miles, I felt like complete crap and was worried about the three miles of uphill that was approaching. Got into a better rhythm, and got to the turnaround without any problems and was cruising. Enjoyed coming downhill on the way back, but was starting to feel it by the 9^th mile. Started laboring a bit the next couple miles, as the terrain leveled out. Last 4 miles were uphill, and was WORKING to get home – the sun came out, and was starting to get pretty humid so didn’t make it much easier. Happy with getting in the run, but legs were pretty much done. Total Mileage: 15 – splits were 8:15, 7:51, 8:01, 8:08, 8:12, 8:06, 7:59, 8:04, 8:06, 8:06, 8:07, 7:51, 8:01, 7:47, 7:41.

So the week’s running was very inconsistent, but somehow plentiful - 4 days, 39-40 miles, with an awesome 22 miles on Saturday and Sunday. Next week will be a lot more light, as we definitely worked our butts off at the end. Calves are pretty shot right now, so am going to enjoy a couple easy days we decided to schedule to start the week.