Rodes City Run 10K – Louisville, KY (March 9, 2019)

Race: Rodes City Run 10K

Place: Louisville, Kentucky

Date: March 9, 2019

Time: 45:33

Well, there is definitely nothing more satisfying than beating a previous year’s time.  Still no 10K PR, but I did way better at this local 10K than the one I attempted to really race in hot, humid Florida a couple of weeks before.  Go figure.

I also waited until the very last week to sign up for this race.  I had it on my radar, as usual, as it is one of the best races here in Louisville, BUT…that being said, I am also in the heat of marathon training and wasn’t sure I was actually going to race it.  My coach, however, said I was.  (For the record, he also raced it and averaged a 5:57 average pace).  So, I was going into this with expectations of a better performance than my previous 5K.  And that was the goal.  Run hard…the entire 6.2 miles.

That being said, I headed down to Slugger Field on the Friday before the race to pick up my race packet.  It was here that I discovered that I was a seeded runner this year and had a low number bib.  Oh.  Awesome.  No pressure then, right?  HA!  So, I was directed over to the proper table to get my race bib and then went to snag a t-shirt as well.  I loved that the shirts this year were purple (GO LouCity), and had a bit of a Mardi Gras flair to them.  So, that was awesome.

Headed home to make a one of the cauliflower pizza’s I have in my freezer (Califlour Pizza Crusts, which I top with Trader Joes Greek Yogurt Kale & Spinach Dip, some mushrooms, spinach, and garlic).  Friday Pizza Night has sort of become a thing.  And these cauliflower crusts are the best out there (and naturally, I can’t get them in any store around here and have to order them online).  Totally worth it.  It was a late dinner, but perfect.  I did my evening stretches, foam rolled, and went to bed early.

Because I had to wake up early enough on race morning to figure out my clothes, stretch, foam roll, and eat prior to race time.  It was around 39 degrees at the start of the race, but I didn’t take into account the wind chill, which made it feel like it was in the high 20s.  So, the running skirt and tank top with arm warmers was, for the first time in a long time, me being underdressed for a run.  Needless to say, I had layers on over my race outfit until close to start time.

Please note, that SOMETHING in all of my race outfits this year will be pink, to honor my mom as she goes through her treatments for breast cancer.  You’re going to see me in a lot of pink.

Anyway…

I was pretty fresh off of busted up knees from a fall I took on some frozen mud near my apartment complex.  I mentioned this a lot on Facebook, but not on here, because I’ve been horrible about blogging and need to really get back into the swing of that.  My apologies, friends.  So, I took a hard belly-flop fall one morning while doing my run.  We have had some new construction and roofing going on at my apartment complex and with the weather winging between hot and cold, a pile of mud that is normally not in my path was in my path, and froze solid from the below freezing temps.  My left foot caught it one morning and I was DOWN.  Just laid out with holes torn into my favorite pair of winter running tights, blood and bruising.  It wasn’t pretty.  So, that sucked.  And now you know the tale of the Legend of the Fall (non-Brad Pitt division).  So, I had some twingy, pain every now and again during my runs, but nothing that I was too concerned about.  I had this before after I fell in the 5K of Dopey, and it eventually just got better on its own.  Just took awhile.  And, cold air and banged up knees are not a good combo.

Just prior to starting, Harry and Jo wandered by and got to say HI and wish me luck.  Harry said, “Low number!  WOW.”  He asked about my knees and said that they looked a little bit better than the photo I had posted on Facebook.  I think he was being kind.  We wished each other luck and I shed my outer layers, even though I didn’t want to yet.  My training partner and friend, Christine, found me at this point.  She was aiming for a really fast 10K…and I wasn’t sure I could keep up with her…but we gathered together at the start, wished each other luck and awaited go-time.

The elites and seeded were set to go after the wheelchairs, so after the wheelchair racers went, we all crowded together and prepared for our turn.  The horn blew and we were off.  I felt good in that first mile, comfortable, but running hard down East Broadway.  I wasn’t going to check my watch or the clocks on the mile markers the entire race, I was running by feel, and it was supposed to feel hard.  My first mile ended up being a 6:51 pace.  Fast.

But the hill at the beginning of Mile 2 really took me down a peg.  Like…majorly.  Hills.  I need to get more comfortable with them, I just don’t run them enough or often.  But I’ll change that eventually.  Christine has had some hilly portions in our long runs together, so that at least helped with that.  She passed me on the hill (everyone passes me on the uphill) and stayed ahead of me for the rest of the race.  I could always JUST see her.

It’s the tilty roads that got me next, but my pace picked back up.  There were some rollers in here as far as hills went, but nothing substantial.  I just focused on pushing myself hard again.  Mile 3 we are on the far side of Cave Hill Cemetery.  I was pretty cold, but moving as fast as I could move at that moment.  Miles 3 and 4 were in the low 7’s (7:10 and 7:14).  Mile 5 was back to feeling really slow and challenging.  I don’t think hills were involved, I think my legs were just tired.  I can’t say for sure.  It’s been a few weeks.  But I pressed on, knowing how close I was to the finish.  I wasn’t going to give up on myself yet.  Squeaked out a 7:26 mile.  And then…the final mile was upon us.  I made the turn back onto East Broadway and headed back toward where we started (this race now is a loop and not a point-to-point, like it had been for years).  I remembered hearing someone behind me say, “Is the start the finish?”  It made me smile, but honestly, I could see it and it still felt so far away.  And no matter how much I was pushing, I just couldn’t seem to get there.  It felt like it never got closer.  The final .2 was just me giving my best, and I crossed the finish line, just happy to be done.  And knowing I did better than the previous year (which was windy, rainy, and cold AF, to be fair).  I got past the photographers and hunched over for a moment to catch my breath.  My coach had said to push hard and not focus on the hard miles I was going to have to do the next day…so I did as he said.  And it paid off.  My final miles were 7:29 and 7:16).  New PR?  Nope.  Not this time.  But now I only need to shave an additional 1:30 off to tie it.  PROGRESS!

We had planned on meeting up with Christine post-race for coffee, and we stared to wander our way towards the coffee shop.  She found us as we were walking that way, and we eventually ended up at a different coffee shop.  A Starbucks.  I was fine with it.  It was warm inside and the drinks were caffeinated.  YAY!  We sat around the table and talked and then she and her husband gave us a ride back to our car at Slugger Field (we had made quite the hike to the start line that morning, mind you).

The following day, I knocked out my long run with 2×5 miles in the middle at marathon pace.  I was shocked, but happy my body could do it.

So, the official results of the Rodes City Run 10K are that I finished in 45:33.  I am chipping away at my times, getting closer to matching or beating that PR time.  SO CLOSE!  I was 246/2964 finishers overall.  I was the 58/1596 women finishers.  And I was 12/225 in my age division.  Last year I was also 12/225 in my age division.  HA!  There were over 400 more runners this year though than last year.  I’ll take that as a win.  And while this wasn’t a distance PR, it was a race PR and a course PR…so that’s also exciting when you think about it!