January 21, 2012 9:00 AM
Asheville, NC
Asheville, NC
Time | Pace | Division | Division Place | Gender Place | Overall Place | Bib # | |
Owen | 43:13 | 6:57 | M35-39 | 6/54 | 40/382 | 47/969 | 629 |
Michael | 46:23 | 7:28 | M1-14 | 1/11 | 68/382 | 87/969 | 628 |
Written by Owen
Last week, when I saw my new marathon training plan called for a 10k race this weekend, I searched for a 10k near Charlotte. The only one I found was in Asheville, about 2 1/2 hours away. We have been doing a lot of travelling lately but I really wanted to stick to my plan. Malissa and I came up with what I think is a great idea. We will take turns taking one of our three kids, with one parent, for some quality one on one time. So I took Michael with me to Asheville to run in this 10k.
The spaghetti dinner on Friday was at 5:30 PM, so I picked Michael up early from school (score for him) so we could make it in time. We had a really fun drive up to Asheville and checked in to the hotel at around 4:30 PM. We watched TV in the hotel for a little while, then headed over to the spaghetti dinner. It was a fundraiser for the PTA of the elementary school (as was the race) so it was a single serving and wasn't nearly enough food (but was delicious.) So we headed to a grocery store and bought some bagels, chips, and granola bars for hotel snacks.
We watched some more TV in the hotel room, set the alarm for 6 AM, and went to bed around 9 PM. When we awoke, we headed downstairs for a very nice Holiday Inn Express breakfast, then back upstairs to get ready for the race and check out of the hotel.
It was a little chilly and threatening rain so we waited inside the school's auditorium until a few minutes before the race.
Michael before the race |
When we stepped outside we saw that the rain had picked up a lot, but wasn't too cold (around 45 degrees.) We ran some quick strides and were ready to go.
Mile 1: The race starts off with an immediate down hill that is pretty substantial. This was one race where I didn't mind starting off way faster than what I could manage for the entire race. We did the first half mile at a 6:05 pace, yikes! Just before the 1st mile marker, Michael told me he was going to let me go ahead. We had talked that I really wanted to race this one, instead of run with him, so this was expected.
That's me in the neon shirt |
Miles 2-6: Nothing very eventful happened, except for the rain picking up quite a bit. We were soaked and dodging big deep puddles the whole way. I was trying to maintain a 6:55 pace, which is much faster than anything I had ever done before, but it had been a long time since I raced. Even in my marathon I was never racing, just wanted to enjoy the experience. I maintained the 6:55 pace all the way, and enjoyed the race a lot.
After I finished I immediately walked back down the hill so I could get the earliest possible sighting of Michael. He was only 3 minutes behind me and also enjoyed the race very much.
On the last uphill before the finish. |
We waited inside for the award ceremony, hoping Michael had won his division. We were thrilled when they called out his name for 1st place (see video below). To be honest, I was hoping I would place also, but didn't think it was possible. I'm not disappointed, 6th out of 54 is better than I expected.
We enjoyed talking about the race for the 2 1/2 hour drive home and created a ton of great memories. Unfortunately I am horrible at taking pictures (Malissa is our family photographer) so I only have these few to post, but will try harder