Well, it certainly didn't turn out the way I had visualized it. I was hoping to run under 40 minutes again, and improve on my Cap 10k time from just a few weeks ago. Instead, I came in a little over 3 minutes slower, at 42:58. That put me at 19th overall, and I managed to stay true to my tradition of being "not quite good enough to place" in my age group (I got 4th).
Even though I've used the phrase "It wasn't my day" to describe the race to a few people, I don't think that really applies here. I was having doubts beforehand, but once the race was underway, I felt like it really was my day. Mile 1 felt like a breeze, and it was on track for my plan. Maybe a tad faster than it should have been, but it felt slow and easy.
Things changed near the end of the second mile. It feels like it's been quite a while since I have had a side stitch during a race, so I guess I was due for one. And, well that's pretty much the rest of the story.
I got what felt like the mother of all side-stitches, (they always feel like the "mother of all side-stitches" when you're having one) and I just could not get rid of it for the rest of the race. I made what felt like a valiant effort to run through the it for the next three-ish miles, trying to breathe differently, run differently... nothing was helping, and I just kept returning to a shallow, hitching breathing pattern trying to manage the pain.
Eventually, the lack of oxygen started to catch up with me and I could feel my fingertips get tingly, so I gave in and stopped pushing it. The pain didn't change, but I was getting enough air.
That's the bad. But there's always good, too. I got to see a ton of friends out there, too many to really list here. I do have to mention Brent Weber, who gave me some encouragement on the course (as he was blazing past me in the fourth mile). It was nice to have a little company.
Tons of friends from work were there too, since we sponsored the race. That fact also meant that Silabs runners had what felt like their own personal "cheer tunnel" at one of the water stops. That was awesome. It was enough to turn my grimace into a genuine smile for a short time.
And everyone in my family ran today too! I (just barely) finished in time to go run the kid's k with Penelope. She wasn't real excited about it for the first half... there were some tears (most of them were hers)... but once we rounded the corner and started on the way back, we had a nice chat about all the dogs she had seen running the 10k (Ben was somewhere far ahead, finding his competitive spirit). And the three of us got to cheer on Stephanie in the 5k and provide her with some high 5's as a team.
Maybe the other bright side here is that I just ran most of a 10k at something slower than my marathon pace. I'm not beat up at all! I don't think I'll even notice it tomorrow. That's good news for next weekend. I am going fishing at the Chuy's 5k one last time. I think there will be a ton of competition, but I also think this year is my best shot yet at bringing home one of those silly wooden trophies.
Splits: 6:24, 6:39, 6:56, 6:53, 6:55, 7:13, 2:06 (a little extra on that last - took a while to think about stopping my watch)