The Great Pumpkin Challenge
I ran in the Saratoga Bridges Great Pumpkin Challenge 10K today. Rainy and cold, and I kicked ass. No, really.
I met up with some running friends (yes, I now have some in real life!) for the 10K. My running partner and I have run the course a couple times in training runs, so we knew where we were going and knew the big hills.
We had a cold drizzle all morning long. I wore my running jacket, but just shorts on my legs. I was thinking I would be cold as I stood shivering at the start, but about 3 miles into it I was roasting my ass off.
When I went to turn on my Forerunner, I found that the battery was dead. I was sure it had been charged up all the way, but maybe I left it on all week long. Possible. So I found my old watch in the gym bag and used that to mentally track the miles. I’m not so good at math while running.
I was targeting a 7:45 pace, but McMillan had actually said 7:41. I just rounded to something I could do the math for. Turned out that I was almost dead on for the pace. I did the miles in my head but they were right on as a I ran.
I just held as strong a pace as I could without getting overly winded. Some stupid chick, with headphones blasting, kept cutting my off, so finally I just ran over the dirt and jumped in right in front of her. No more headphone chicks running me off the sidewalk.
I really felt in the groove. The pace was hard on the hills, but it just felt good. I would spot a target runner ahead and reel them in, one after the other. There was this guy in a giant orange pumpkin shirt who I was trying to catch for about 3 miles. I finally dusted him on the last hill. I had run that hill a couple times and I still had some strength left, but he was spent. There was a pretty serious looking female runner in front of him and I was sure she was going to kick it in when I tried to pass her, but she was spent too. I remember passing another guy at mile 2 or so, who breathed like a steam engine and stomped like a dinosaur. I could hear him coming up on me a couple of times, but he couldn’t hold it together. I was on fire.
Final time 47:45 (+/- a few for chip/gun time difference). 7:40 pace. Yes, that is a PR for me. :) I know a lot of people out there would destroy that time, but me, I am ecstatic. I beat my old 10K PR by almost 5 minutes.
When I looked at the results board last, I was 34th out of about 90 or so runners. 7th or 8th in my age group, but I don’t know how big the group was. According to McMillan, that time will translate into a 7:24 pace in a 5K. I am getting closer to the 7:00 pace for a 5K. :)
Post race snacks: 5 out of 10. Water, banas, bagels, cheese, and pumpkin bread. The pumpkin bread was good.
October 25th, 2008 23:11
Hey, you rock! So where did the turnaround happen? Sometime this year all of a sudden things started going right. No more shin problems. Was it just the shoes, really?
It’s been so great to read your posts being so positive. You haven’t said anything lately about losing weight, but I’m betting that’s going better, too. It’s GOT to if you’re doing so well on your runs.
Happy Halloween.
October 26th, 2008 20:05
hey jon, that is fantastic! well done!
October 26th, 2008 22:30
Jon - that’s absolutely amazing. Congrats, and great to hear about the turnaround.
October 27th, 2008 06:37
WHOA! i’m soooooooooooooooo jealous! great job out there, showing them what’s what.
(I want to know the answer to kathy’s question too. What IS THE FORMULA???)
October 27th, 2008 10:41
whoa, doggie!! you kicked assES!
October 27th, 2008 14:12
Congrats and oh yeah “When I went to turn on my Forerunner, I found that the battery was dead. I was sure it had been charged up all the way, but maybe I left it on all week long. Possible. “….been there done that!
October 28th, 2008 09:52
Fantastic job! However, from the first sentence I thought that there would have been a situation during the race where your foot came into contact with someone’s ass.
October 28th, 2008 21:30
Your turnaround seems to coincide with less guest blogging from Canada. Anything to that?
Yikes, you are on a tear. That is a blistering good pace for the 10K. I wish I could count on that pace for a 5K. We’ll see this weekend.
November 3rd, 2008 07:49
Great job Jon! Have you been training on the side and not telling us…I mean a 5 minute PR for a 10K is front page news ;-)
November 3rd, 2008 21:15
Congrats on the new PR! That is a great race time! You’re really getting into your groove!