Payson Onion Days 10k this morning. I really do love these small town races and even though this course gets in my head because I run it basically daily I was excited to see what I could do. This was my 3rd time running this race and I knew I was capable of a huge course PR. My first year (first 10k ever) I ran 48:xx, last year 43:52, and I was secretly hoping to keep the 4 minute course PR trend alive...
I jogged up to the start from my house 2.25 miles. Found Rachel at the start and picked up my packet. I had written some silly goal splits on my hand and showed them to Rachel before the start. She told me to just go out hard and see what happened. I know that it is a positive split course (which I suck at) but I needed to practice running a positive split race in prep for TOU so I just decided what the heck. I tucked behind Jen, Jane, and Kim and maintained my position for the remainder of the race. 6:11, 6:18, 6:26, 6:22, 6:39, 6:30, 5:59 for the final .23. I definitely started out way too fast for me but I also proved to myself that I'm capable of holding it together. This was a good race for me and a huge 10k PR! Maybe after TOU I will focus more on these shorter distance races. I actually felt really good & strong today and never even had that I want to puke my guts out feeling. I just focussed on running a controlled effort and think overall I ran a smart race.
Just a 1 mile cooldown jog and then my parents gave me a ride back to my house.
PM: Just 1 mi with the pup. It is still just too hot for her. 9:30 pace | 