Race Report - Reston 10 miler

I know this may be a few days late, but better late than never.  On Sunday, I woke up after only 5 hours of sleep, feeling pretty exhausted, but determined to run a strong race.  I was headed to South Lakes High School to run Reston 10 Miler with my friends Terri and Brooke.  We normally run together during our Saturday long runs and we all have the same goal for the half coming up, so we were excited about this race just 2 weeks before our big run.

As the race started I was still running back from the bathroom, but right after crossing the start line, I caught up with them and we were on our way.  We had a great plan, to keep a consistent pace for the first few miles and then about every 2 miles kick it up a bit until we got to our race pace.  We all did a great job of having nice conversation, keeping to our plan, and sticking together.  Around mile 7 I looked around and I couldn't find either of them.  I was so confused because I thought we had stuck together.  As it turned out all three of us had gotten in the groove and I had totally dazed out.  I was running a 10 minute mile!  It has been a while that I have run at that pace in a race so it really surprised me.  Anyway, I picked up the pace and saw Brooke and Terri about a tenth of a mile ahead of me, but at that point we were all keeping a good distance and pace so I ran the last 3 miles by myself.  It took me a while to get back in the groove after slowing down.  It was a great race despite the fact that I got lost in my running.  I finished in 1:35:23.  A PR by over 4 mins!  I was so happy!  A great race with great friends...what better way to start a Sunday?

Here's the break down:
Mile 1 - 9:59
Mile 2 - 9:49
Mile 3 - 9:42
Mile 4 - 9:30
Mile 5 - 9:14
Mile 6 - 9:18
Mile 7 - 10:00
Mile 8 - 9:32
Mile 9 - 9:25
Mile 10 - 8:50
Time: 1:35:23
Average Pace: 9:30

After the race