I hauled myself out of bed this morning to cold (in Sacramento, cold = mid-40's...yes, I'm a sissy), calm and foggy weather. Abby signed up for the 10k because she's getting ready for a leg of CIM corporate relay. So, she and I headed over to Davis together to get our race packets, run and have breakfast at Bernardo's.
We got to Davis and parked about four blocks from the start...and felt lucky that we were only four blocks away. Davis is a college town without barely enough on-street parking to accommodate its residents. Never mind sandwiching in additional cars for 3500 or so runners. When we got our packets, we discovered that A Change of Pace has new chips. The old ones looked like a pretzel tied to your shoe and had to be returned after every race. The new ones looked like a thin, pliable strip of orange plastic. Instead of zip ties, the new "chip" had adhesive on one end and slipped through the shoe laces. I like them.
I headed to the start of the 5k with hopes of beating 20:30. The course had a lot of turns and consisted of road and bike trails. I hate lots of 90 degree turns because I feel like they kill my stride and cadence. Oh well. I went through mile one at sub 6 pace and I felt great...but nervous. I can't remember my last sub-6 mile. I decided to throttle back a little and trust the pace which felt comfortable...which turned out to be 6:10. After mile two, the course takes us off the street and onto a bike path. I still felt good, so I decided to press the pace a little. I finished what seemed to be an easy 5k in 18:51 (6:04 mins/mi) at 36th place. I was VERY pleased.
I hooked up with Abby and we got ready for the 10k start. My goal for the 10K was to run it at an easy pace and hope that it was faster than the 7:37 mins/mi I need to get 3:20 (Boston). This meant that anything better than 47 minutes would make me happy. I went out at 7:00 minutes for the first mile and sped up every mile for the full 10k. My finishing time was 41:30 (6:41 mins/mi) and I still had a whole lot in the tank. I was thrilled! I've had more bad runs than good and I needed some good news heading into the CIM. This was just what I needed.
Abby predicted she'd finish at around 12 mins/mi pace, but came in at 1:05:57 (10:37 mins/mi). She did very, very well and should have a good CIM relay.
Of course, the day was not without folly. Abby had the key to the car...where my sweats were. By the time she finished I had been in a short sleeve shirt and running shorts in 40-50 degree weather for over two hours. I was freezing cold!!!! Next time, I'll drive or take the key. I was shivering for 30 minutes after getting my sweats on. Loser!
Notes:
- The Eggs Benedict at Cafe Bernardo are exceptional after a cold morning running.
- My bro, Mike is in town for the Thanksgiving week. After circling Sac for 40 minutes waiting for the fog to clear...you're not in Arizona anymore. He's going to run 16 in the morning.
- I'm pooped. Good night. :-)
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