Well my half trainig plan--which, of course, has been tweaked-- called for a 10-k as a sort of training break. So I rolled out of bed this morning at 7:35 and at 7:50 decided to do the Jingle Bell Run in Bloomfield, MI. The race had a 5k run/walk and the 10k run. I had scoped it out as a possibility, so it wasn't totally random. Besides, December in Michigan is pretty limited for races of any kind! So off I went, not sure if I should run or race. Then I remembered--the way I run, you can't tell the difference! (and neither can I--I mean really, after a year of running you'd think I would start to feel the difference, but I am still as clueless as ever!)
Previosuly, the run had been in downtown Birmingham, but somehwere along the way it was moved and now starts/finishes at one of the local schools. The course was a loop course--2 circuits of the 5k. Not something I was necessarily looking forward to, but whatever. The bonus of being at the school is that you get to do all the registration, bathrooms, refreshments, etc indoors. Last year there were 1200 runners. Don't know the tally today. Usual assortment of Santa hats, Santa outfits and PAWS--the Detroit Tigers mascot. Race time temp: ~ 20 degrees, light/no wind
As usual, I didn't bring my watch and having no sense of pace, I started out. Turns out they had a clock at the one mile point and I had gone out in 8:40! Now, since this was my first 10k, I was hoping to finish in 1 hour or less (sounds like a dry cleaner--or photo processor!) So that was too fast. I slowed down some and chugged along. The course was through a neighborhood of upscale houses and fortunately the roads were clear of snow or ice (unlike my own street at home).
Rest of the race went like this: ran, took water at mile 2, ran some more, saw the 10k leaders coming back my way--including some fast, older women, saw the people doing the 5k go to the finsih line, hit the second loop, ran some more, stayed on the shoulder of a woman who was running about my pace (whatever the heck it was!), took water from the same person again at 5 miles, felt a little bonked towards the end--did I mention that I didn't eat aything before the race? I don't run well with food on my stomach, and there was no water around when I thought I might try my Powergel so I didn't bother. Dropped the woman I was shadowing-- a real surprise since I figured she would drop me. Dodged walkers doing the 5k, put on the obligatory burst of speed at the end (ha, ha) and finished.
The result? I finished in 54:50 for a pace of 8:50. This boggles my mind actually, because I figured that for the 10k I would surely be slower than the 5ks I have run (all 2 of them), but amazingly, it was the same overall pace.
Back indoors to get warm--or cool since I really get hot out there running. Post-race food consisted of the usual ornages, bananas, water, along with the not-so-usual (for me) chili, nachos. Coffee and hot chocolate, too.
Posted results show that I was 4th out of 5 in my age group (50-54). But I'm pretty happy. I ran pretty well, my knee/hip bothered me but not to the point of real distraction, and now I'm done running for the weekend! Now it's the home stretch--my longest long runs are coming up and 4 weeks from today it willbe the real test.
Thanks for reading,
Maura
GO! WISH Team GO! 
It was very nice to meet you on Friday night.
, they got a lot of me this year.
