AF Marathon 10k

This race wasn't intended to be a big event for me. My goal was to use the running race to give my legs one last push to prepare for the Deer Creek Fall challenge triathlon, which is one week from today. 

But it went a little better than I intended...

5th overall, 1st Active Duty Finisher, and a personal record of 38:08. (That's the official time on the AF Marathon website. You'll see my Garmin record is a little longer.)

15,000 people participate in the Air Force Marathon events every year, and so the pool of talent is much deeper than what I'm used to with the little races I've done in the past. Just shy of 1,500 people were registered for the 10k; therefore, I expected not to be competitive on this level.

Nevertheless, I started at the front. Heh.

My goal was to see how fast my running legs would go without having swum or biked beforehand. The front group went out running about 5:40 pace. I stayed with them through the first mile, and then we started to split up with a few folks in front of me, and a few folks behind. 

Mile 2 was the hill. 

It's certainly not an epic hill. By race standards, it's actually quite small. But in a 10k race, where the goal is to run fast, it's still going to throw off your groove.

(The hill is at 18 seconds... if you care to watch this video.)

So after fighting my way up the hill - alone - we then ran through some rollers, before  hitting the mostly downhill section for the remainder. I hit the 5k mark at 19:10; which was better than I expected, given the climbing.

As I ran the second half, there was a guy in front of me in a yellow jersey. He was about 50 yards up, and I tried to catch him with several surges. But it felt like he was doing the same thing. No one passed me, and I didn't pass anyone else for the second half.

Running through the last mile and a half, I was gassed. I really had to fight to hold my pace at a 6:15 mile. I'm not sure what took it out of me so quickly. Whether it was starting faster than I normally start runs, or the hill at the beginning or what. All I know is my stomach was churning quite a bit as I worked my way into the finish shoot.

But the crowd was awesome. The fatigue went away when they all started cheering, and the announcer called me out on the loudspeaker and gave me a high-five as I crossed the finish line. It was pretty cool! Then a 2-star general gave me my finisher's medal!

My goal (and then-some) was accomplished. But the day was not over... it was time to grab my stuff from the check-bags tent, and head straight to swim practice. No rest for a triathlete!

Little did I know that I had a bunch of IM's waiting for me at the pool...When practice was over, I called Marian and said...

"I'm done; and I'm done... and I'm hungry."

It was a great day. I couldn't be more amazed at some of the results over the last couple months. But God is the one working here. I really don't have that much control when it comes to race day. I just go out and do my best, and trust that God will have me do as well as He wants me to do.

One more race left this year, and then it's time for a break!