What an incredible morning here in Scottsdale. I mean, come on ... the weather simply does not get any better than this! This is my second time doing this race. I was certainly in much better overall fitness last time I ran it with my son Ethan for his very first 10K. That said, I pulled off a really good race this morning. Today also marks a major milestone in my running career. Okay, maybe not SO major, but significant. Today was my first "sockless" race. I'm trying to shave time off of T1 and T2 in my Triathlons and so I'm committing to going with no socks. Thank you God for Bag Balm. If you know ... you know.
Funny how it works some times. The minute I stepped on to the runway, my GPS disconnected from the satellite. I'm guessing it had something to do with the airport etc. So, I had to do the race not knowing my actual pace or the distance I was at at any given time in the race. I actually think it was a blessing in disguise and may use it to my advantage in the future for timed events. Maybe not knowing is actually better ... :-)
First mile was at a very pedestrian 10:12, but for my 10K pace that's a really good start. Body felt good. Legs/knees feet felt okay. LET'S ROLL!
I had two guys running along side that were keeping me in the pace. There always seems to be someone that does this for me. They both looked to be possibly in my age group, so that kept me focused as well. I was struggling at about the 4.5 mile mark to keep pace with them and decided just to keep them in eye sight and see how they were doing down the stretch. The decision was a good one. They both faded badly at the 5.5 mile mark and I finished in a sprint leaving them far behind. Posted a 9:49 for mile 6. Not gonna lie ... that felt good.
Always great to have my wife Mary Jo and our friend Jacque along for the event. They were doing the 5K. I've grown to really loath doing events like this alone and on my own. Sounds corny, but you need people with you at these things. It really does make a difference.
Next up is the Pat Tillman race. I'm putting a little spin on that race this year. More info to come. :-)
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