arbutus firecracker 10k [happy 4th!]

happy fourth of the july to the four people who read this blog :)

I've run the Arbutus Firecracker 10K a few times since 2007. It's always the three H's: Hot. Humid. Hilly.

oh, and the neighbors always have their sprinklers and hoses out. and there is watermelon at the end. so those things are awesome.

My friend Pam ran it, too -- her first 10K and she rocked it! congrats, Pam!

I woke up this morning, had my usual Belvita breakfast biscuits which were delicious and maybe they would like to sponsor me? Checked the weather. Oh goody it's 72* and it's not even 7! hooray! It's hard to race in the summer when you've been spoiled by PRs set on 40 degree days. Racing in the summer is a whole 'nother game and I always forget how much the heat and humidity takes its toll on my times.

Last night James and I debated the merits of the whole family coming to the race, but decided it would be best to let those two sleep in*. I drove up 95 to Arbutus Middle School (a quick and easy drive, especially at 6:50 am on a holiday morning), got my race number and tshirt, and played a few games of Candy Crush (goddamn you level 29) while waiting for Pam and crew to arrive.

I spotted Kyle (Pam's adorable son) before I saw Pam. It was great to see them :)

Then to the starting area, heard the National Anthem... and we're off!

elevation map ^

The first bit is uphill but it's short, so that wasn't terrible. I was holding a sub 8 pace (7:45ish), which - of course - felt comfortable in a sure-I-can-hold-this-for-the-next-5.6-miles kind of way.

(spoiler alert: I couldn't. According to Athlinks.com I've run 58 races ... I've probably managed to properly pace about ... 10 of them. And that's a generous estimate. It's hard for me now to pace a 5K and 10K because they are fast and it's hard for me to hold back when I know the race will be over [fairly] quickly [and the allure of the PR/ AG placing is too hard to ignore]. I can pace a 10 miler/ HM/ marathon better because I know it's a longer day .. also because I know how badly it feels to blow up at mile 18. And also because I think I'm way faster than I actually am.)

positive** splits ^^ (yikes those are pretty shitty)

I was so, so happy to see the finish line and managed a kick. Got a cold washcloth (LOVE THAT) and water and waited for Pam to finish.

Me and Pam before:

Me and Pam after:

Where I finished:

Overall: 110/ 506
Women: 22/ 222
AG (F30-39): 6/ 61

*the definition of sleep in has been changed from noon to 7:10.
** positive does not mean good when it comes to splits.