Icebreaker 10k Race Report

First of all, I am so, so, very glad that it was above freezing when we started this race this morning. 41 degrees and clear. We set out on turf, then a bit of gravel, then up a slight hill and onto the road. I felt confident and happy in my training, and more prepared for this race than any before it. I had no nervousness, I had a good night's sleep, some coffee, and some food in my belly. And, most importantly, I was decked out in awesome running gear!

Mile 1 (12:18): Had a slight uphill but was pretty normal, I'd run that section before and it was fine. The group thinned out during that first mile.
Mile 2 (12:36): Felt great, again a mostly familiar area, with some fantastic motivational signs on the light poles. This is part of the normal army running route, so the signs were "Honor, Duty, Integrity, Loyalty, Respect, etc." They boosted my morale, and I knew I'd be doubling back this way for the tail end of the race and they'd really come in handy.
Mile 3 (13:59): Horrible Heritage Hill. Right before this hill is a little dip, where the temperature dropped significantly for a few minutes. Then its up a long, steep hill. I initially attacked it Jennifer style, measuring out my run/walk ratio by the light poles. Then, after the initial climb, I turned to walking quickly up the last, slow incline. I knew, however, that after this hill, the race was in the bag.
Mile 4 (12:04): This felt fantastic. I was running a straight road, with a slight decline and it felt awesome. The sun was out, I was warm but not too hot.
Mile 5 (12:02): This was even better than mile 4. I cannot believe this was my pace for the 5th mile. I'm still amazed at this. I was heading past those awesome signs, all on my own on the open road and it felt great. I need to make every mile like this.
Mile 6 (12:25): The end of the race felt great. I was running an extremely familiar route, knowing exactly where I needed to pick it up and power through to the end. As soon as I turned the last corner, I could hear the loudspeaker from the finish line announcing another runner was coming in. People cheered for me by name, I turned on the speed as I passed the last soldier watching traffic on the road and sprinted into the finish. As soon as I saw the clock, I was incredibly pleased.


My goal for this race was a) to finish and b) to finish under 90 minutes. My 2013 goal for the 10k is to finish under 75 minutes. I felt awesome finishing in 1:21:21. With a 12:27 pace, I feel that I can surpass the 75 minute goal by the time the year is done. I also feel very strong going into the longer part of my half-marathon training. At the finish line, they had sign up sheets for the next installation race, which is on 23 February and is an 8k. Its the week before my half, and I feel that may be a good taper.... Plus I want to run all the races on base this year.