Running, Biking, Firefighting & other challenges: Toad Suck Daze 10K

Saturday we ran the Toad Suck Daze 10K in Conway. Yep, 7 days after the Nashville Marathon we are racing a 10k. The goal here was just to take this one for the running team. Well, that's always easier said than done. I had no idea how the legs would feel. I had biked 8 and ran .7 on Monday and the legs felt good. I ran almost 3 at the clinic on Tuesday night. I only did cross training the rest of the week.

Annette and I both had the same goal of just finishing under an hour. We had set new 10K pr's at the Capitol City Classic a few weeks back and Toad Suck was a much harder and hilly course. After running a marathon last weekend, we figured we would just run easy and try to stay under the one hour mark.

The race started with very high winds and chilly temps. About 54 degrees and I'd guess 20mph winds. This race always has a large crowd and is chip timed. There is also a 5k and kids race but these are not Grand Prix scoring events. I knew to stay under an hour I had to run at least a 9:40 pace and to PR I would need a 9:20 average.

As usual we started out a little too fast. I never practice what I preach but its hard to start slow when you see everyone your running with ahead of you. First mile was a 9:18 average pace. Wow, and it felt pretty good. The legs were not hurting, just felt normal. The temperature was rising pretty quick and it was very sunny so when we were out of the wind it was hot. I could tell this in my heart rate as it was higher than what I would have liked this early in the race. Never racing a week after a marathon I had no idea what to expect or if I would crash and burn before the finish. I was pretty much staying with Annette and Kelly. At the first water stop I grabbed a drink as I ran through the stop. I stayed somewhat behind the person ahead of me as they turned the corner left. I heard Annette yelling at me, "this way, that's the 5K" so I quickly had to turn back. This was the only bad thing I could say about the volunteers in this race. The guy was just standing in the middle of the road with a sign that said 5k left, 10k straight. Usually someone is at least yelling it out also. I wonder how many 10k runners went the wrong way.

We all ran pretty hard. I actually held back through some of the race. I wasn't suppose to be racing this and I was in unknown territory. Could I run 6.2 miles hard after a marathon?? Well, it worked out. I think running with Annette and Kelly helped push me. I took a few walk breaks just to conserve energy but as soon as they passed me I'd catch back up or get slightly ahead. Kelly was running super strong. Annette had a cold and some muscle soreness so she was not 100%. We continued to stay on pace or as I thought, ahead of pace. Since we were not trying to PR 9:40 was all we needed. We were averaging around 9:25 per mile. By mile 5 I started thinking how close to the PR we were. I was not off by much, but could I make up the time? I started trying to pick up the pace. Mile 5 was a 9:10. I knew then that a PR was a possibility but I really didn't want to hurt myself getting there. I ran through mile 6 a little harder, 9:02 pace. The last probably .2 or .3 hit the track at the high school for the finish. Kelly had gotten slightly ahead of me. As I rounded the first corner Cindy C. was on the sideline yelling at me to catch Kelly. Ha.....I didn't have anything left to catch her with. I didn't have a sprint left, though I did pick up the pace a little. At the finish I felt I had given it a good shot. Maybe not a 100% effort but I really had no expectations on this race other than to finish.

Me coming into the High School almost done

My final time was 58:25. I had missed my PR by :24 seconds. Not bad coming off a marathon! I did have a PR for the course. Last year I had a super slow time of 1:07:15 so this was about a 9:45 course PR. I really can't complain much about that. I do wish now that I had just pushed a little harder or not took one short walk break. At least I know my muscles recover quicker and I can run faster than my brain thinks I can.

Kelly coming in to the finish line

Annette also had a good race. She finished right behind me in about 58:46 and won 3rd place in her age group along with a course PR. Kelly was about 5 seconds ahead of me and set a new 10K PR. Gary who had also ran Nashville with us had a course PR and won 1st place Grand Masters. Michele finished way ahead of me, not sure if she had a PR but she may have. I still can't believe we all ran a marathon last weekend. I guess it just shows that our training is working and we are all very strong. Maybe even a little crazy for racing!

Miss Speedy Annette coming in to the finish

Here is Gary with his 1st place Grand Masters Trophy

Here are my splits from the race. Almost negative splits but not quite.
Official time - 58:25
Avg. Pace - 9:26
1-9:18
2-9:20
3-9:24
4-9:45
5-9:10
6-9:02
7-8:07
860 Calories
Avg. Heart rate - 176

The kids race was fun to watch also. My niece Kylie was running in the 5 year old race and Michele's kids were also running. Annette's Aunt Tamara won an award in the 5k. It was a good day for all.