Running from Gluten 10k

I'd like to start this race recap by noting that we had mild, sunny weather all week, and I was worried race day would be hot. Silly me. Race day was a lovely 55 degrees, with 92% humidity and constant rain!

That's what I get for worrying.

In my last post on training, I vacillated between running this race as a training run or racing this race. Well, the week leading up to race day ended up being a rough one. I'm having some strange issues with breakthrough bleeding, and the unpredictable nature of that has been stressful. On Tuesday, I had to leave the gym early when, during squats, I had a wardrobe malfunction the likes of which I haven't suffered since I was a teenager. That same day, I pulled my groin...but don't worry—I still went to volleyball.

Because of all that, I ended up resting Wednesday instead of doing an easy run, which meant my last run before race day was Monday's 4 miles. I had also missed my last long run. So, as you can imagine, when I saw the rainy forecast, my mindset for the race quickly reverted to "training run."

As soon as I saw all the kids and dogs, I knew I'd be one of very few 10k runners.

I got to the race around 9:20 for the 10am start and the parking was already tight. I decided to follow the lead of the cars ahead of me and park on the side of the road, about a quarter mile from the start. This race did not have any expo or early packet pickup, so I walked through a very fine mist to the registration table to get my bib, t-shirt, and swag bag. As I walked back to my car, the very fine mist turned into a steady rain.

I sat in the car debating which jacket to wear: my windbreaker, which isn't very water resistant but is better for warm weather, or my rain shell, which would keep me dry but isn't particularly breathable. I ended up choosing the windbreaker, and by the time I'd spent 10 minutes in line for the bathroom, I was soaked through.

Anyway, the race. Based on some of the growing pains the organizers had, I assumed this race was only two years old, but it's actually on its fifth year. The race organizers had underestimated the number of participants by nearly 200 (expected 500, had 680, only 50 of which ran the 10k) so they were short on swag bags and—getting ahead of myself here—vendors ran out of certain foods post-race, too.

In that same vein, they didn't have any porta potties. The venue has bathrooms, but with 680 people, many of them kids, that simply wasn't enough. Even two porta potties would have helped speed things up. Also, charity 5ks attract a ton of walkers, and good etiquette dictates that if the bathroom line is long and the race start is looming, they should let racers go ahead of them. 

Alas, that was not the case, and as such, I got started 90 seconds behind the start time.

A little bit about this race. The route was four 1.5-mile loops. I wasn't sure how this would feel, but it was actually kind of nice. By the time I started lap 3, I was able to anticipate sections of the route and plan accordingly.

Anyway, because I started late, I spent the first half mile weaving (a little belligerently) through hundreds of 5k walkers. I knew I was burning energy and would regret it, and sure enough, when I finally found a little bit of breathing room, I was faced with the course's the hills.

Hitting a sub-8 pace in the first half mile? Idiotic.

Three small hills, each steeper than the last, covered in loose gravel. The worst! As soon as I got to them, I made a deal with myself: run all three hills on laps 1 and 2, and you can walk them on 3 and 4.

I mean, if you do the math, three hills per lap and total of four laps is way too many hills for a training run, after all. 

At the top of the last and steepest hill, the road evened out and soon took us around one of the many fields in the park, where families were setting up for a wet day of ultimate frisbee. We crossed through the parking lot, where I heard someone wistfully point out how easy it would be to just get in their car and call it a day.

Then we were back at the start and crossing the timing mat for the first time.

Lap 2. Despite the rain and the fact that I was soaked through, I was pretty warm. It wasn't cold out, after all, and I was working pretty hard. When I got to the hills, I ran up all three, and that was when I started to worry I was going to lose steam before I even made it to two miles.

Around mile 2.5 I decided to get rid of my jacket. The rain had died down and it was clinging to me and just generally uncomfortable. A plan formed in my brain. 

I began unpinning my bib, carrying it in hand as I crossed the parking lot and looped the hairpin turn that sent us back toward the start. As I neared the timing mat, I took off my jacket—I had to pull my sleeves over my hands with my teeth, it was that stuck to me!—and as I crossed it, I tossed my jacket behind the DJ booth. 

Drenched.

On to lap 3. I took my first walk break, during which I struggled to repin my bib to my shirt. It took longer than I would have liked because my hands were unsteady, but that was okay, because I needed the break.

The green bits are my walk breaks. I walked in same two spots twice, for a total of 4 walks.

The rain started again, fairly heavy at times. I ran two of the three hills, even though I had permission to walk them all. At this point, the repetition of the route was working in my favor, because I knew the worst of the lap was over.

Lap 4 was lonely.

Lap 4, the final lap. I walked a bit and had some water at the very start of this lap. I could feel my muscles starting to ache from the effort. I walked all three hills. The course was nearly empty.

And then, somehow, I had made it to the last half mile. I found it in me to speed up a bit and full on sprint the end.

Post-race, I retrieved my waterlogged jacket, used the bathroom again, and wandered around the celebration area. 

Here's where my biggest complaint comes in: this race offers a 10k distance, which takes the average runner at least an hour to complete. There were people behind me on that course when I finished. The free grilled cheese I was promised? Out of cheese just as I made it to the front of the line. The other vendors? Down to their last samples, or completely out.

They did give us loaves of bread to make up for the lack of cheese.

I get it. It's hard to plan for nearly 700 people. But it's so defeating to run a long, wet race and not even get the promised treats at the end. I also know this particular issue is on the vendors, not the organizers, but it's still frustrating. 

Not to say the organizers didn't make mistakes. They were short on swag bags and asked participants to share with others in their party (for families, I guess). Shirts were also in short supply, and we were told they were "first come, first served." My medal had last year's ribbon attached, and I heard one of the organizers tell someone who hadn't gotten a medal that they had a few leftover medals but were out of ribbons; clearly they were running low on everything.

On top of all that, awards by gender and (very wide) age group were promised, but results weren't available at the finish and were emailed out later. Knowing I was one of very few 10k runners, I was hopeful I had placed and now I don't know if I did.

Why not? Because the results list everyone's age as 20 (the Adult age group was 20-80) and no one has a gender assigned.

So I do know I placed 21 of 50 in the 10k (men and women), and I'm pretty sure I was 4th adult female, but I have no idea how many women ran the 10k so I may be 4th out of 4!

 (And yes, I did email the timing organization, so if I get answers, I'll update.)

All that aside, I actually am feeling pretty jazzed about this race. Despite a rough week, I ran one of my strongest 10ks ever in terrible weather. I was hoping for a 10-minute pace and managed sub-10. I walked way less than I anticipated, even considering my hard effort. I never hit the wall or got discouraged. 

I don't always check my stats but it's cool to see my cadence is on track for what's recommended. Only 3ish minutes of walking is cool to see! Also, 200 feet of elevation gain in a 10k? Yuck.

The swag bag was full of gluten free goodies, and I had a moment of realization at the end of the race that most everyone around me was gluten free or was running to support someone who is...and that was a pretty cool feeling.

I made myself French toast after the race and it was divine.

There's a lot to be happy about here! Considering the 10k is my least favorite race distance, I'm actually stoked with how this turned out. But I'd like to see the organizers and vendors make some improvements next year.

Either way, I'll be better prepared and won't waste time taking photos before I get in line for grilled cheese.

Ali