Old Pros 4th of July 10k RR

So last Wednesday on 4th of July I entered my second running race of the year, The Old Pro's Scripps Ranch 4th of July 10k. It's a race I've done since I was 13 and it brings back a lot of great memories of going down with the high school cross country team and bandit-ing races. Back then it wasn't quite frowned upon like it is now - but our coach would tell us to just line up and pull off towards the end of the race and he'd time us! The only difference now is, I pay the entry fee and hit the beer garden afterwards!

Amy and I with our sister in law Traci in the Beer Garden

One of the coolest things this year was that Amy did it. She is a gym rat, Zumba, Pilate's, Body Rock, Yoga type of girl that runs "on the side." She ended up doing an amazing job running 55 minutes for her first 10k. My sister in law also ran her first 10k and went sub 60 too! Along with family, my swimming nemesis ran as well as some other old friends. Overall it is one of my favorite local races and unfortunately it ended up being a week and a half after crushing my legs in the San Diego International. That race tore me up pretty good - way more than any of the half's I've done this year, just a lot more intensity and that hard 10k at the end can really make you sore. Speaking of SDIT, I'm so glad that on my first overall amateur win that they screw up my results. One result says I ran a 14 minute 10k and the other one (the one that's on the site) has me completely off of the results. I shot a quick email to the RD, but no response - oh well, no biggie - as long as I know...

You can see me in white lined up front/left

So going into the race I only put in two easy 30 minute runs in the week leading up trying to still recover from SDIT. My legs started coming around the day before, but with no intensity in 10 days - I knew I wasn't going to be 100% going in. Regardless I had my eyes set on going sub 33. We arrived to perfect conditions race morning. As usual, everyone was dressed up in Red, White and Blue, a ton of speedo's and weirdos - perfect for a 10k. After a quick progressive warm up my legs didn't quite have the pop that I wanted and I knew I was going to suffer...I lined up at the front and saw a ton of legit guys. This race always brings out a lot of talent and I knew even a sub 33 would barely crack the top 10 overall. The gun went off and after dodging the speedo sprinters, we went up the only hill of the day and I settled nicely into the 2nd pack...

Running race reports can get kind of boring, so I'll just give you a quick summary with splits. I started in 10th place and ended in 10th place overall. I didn't pass anyone and no one passed me. The 2nd pack consisted of me and two other guys. I tucked in right behind them and let them do the work.

I hit 5k in 16:31 and knew I was right on pace to go sub 33 since the last mile has a downhill. After mile 4, the two guys I was staying with pulled ahead and I knew that was my ticket to sub 33. My legs just didn't have it. Although I wasn't wearing a heart rate monitor my heavy breathing/wheezing was an indication that I was red-lining at 90% of max heart rate for the last 2.5 miles. Mile 5 I fell asleep since I didn't have a pack to stick with and had my worst mile of the day (5:37) hitting 8k in 26:5x. Good thing there was some downhill because I was smoked.

I kicked it in and my official time was 33:27 (5:24 pace), 3rd in AG, 10th Overall.

So I grabbed an "over 30" PR and was pleased with the effort. Doing two hard 10k's in a 2 week span is brutal and not something I ever want to do again. That race hurt - and it's supposed to. Matter fact, it's the only reason why I ran as fast as I did. I run three/four days a week averaging around 25 miles/week. Two of those runs are usually done at 9+ minute per mile pace. Sure I carry fitness from swimming/biking and I have a running background, but the biggest reason why I run faster then most other triathletes is because I visit "the pain cave" often. What does the pain cave look like?

You kinda want to cry/and throw up... Kicking it in at Old Pro's

Learning to hurt is so important. It's when you can make those huge gains in training/racing. I'm just now learning how to do it on the bike/swim and I've seen big improvements these past few months.

That's it, I'll just leave the rest of the story in pictures:

Another pic from SDIT I found

SDIT coming out of the water

Hitting Windy/Choppy Vail lake each week & seeing progress

Watching the TDF every single day. 10 yr Annv. Ruination with Josh here.

4th of July with grandma and cousins!

Homemade Ice Cream!

Peaches from our tree

Suffered up Palomar in the heat. 10k Race + Climbing almost 7k ft = rough day in the saddle :(

So I rewarded myself with some Hefe with lemons from our tree

And some local IPA

And some "bottle cap head" beer. If it floats, it's most likely a quality beer!

Cheers!