2009 Mid Winter 10 Mile Classic

Ian, Snowman and I sporting our Trail Monster Gear.
Photo by sidzmum

The weather gods smiled on us once again for the 10 Miler. It was cloudy and around 20 degrees with no wind. Perfect running conditions (at least for early February!). As always I am a nervous racer, and was wondering how things were going to turn out. It wasn't that I thought I couldn't finish the course, it was just a question of how fast I was going to go.

We met up at the start with Ian, George and Ann, Lily and Dominick and Dora. When the gun went off, Ian and Snowman were gone in a flash. Lily gracefully ran by me in the first 1/4 mile, and a few steps later I saw George, chatting with another runner. Going up the hills between miles 2 and 3, Dora passed me, never to be seen again. I felt pretty good in those first few miles, and was just trying to run steadily. However, I was getting passed by a lot of people. I am always amazed when running a road race just how many people can run faster than me! Ah well...

I did manage to run for a short ways with a nice guy in an orange shirt, who commented on how smooth my form was. A nice compliment, although I'm not sure it helped me out too much, as he eventually pulled just far enough ahead that I could see him for the next 4.5 miles but could never quite catch up! We went through the halfway point in 38:21 - perfect- I just hoped I could keep it up.

The miles ticked by, and I was in a long train of people, concentrating on keeping going and not slowing down. Coming to the 9 mile marker, I was happy to know there was only one mile remaining, but daunted by the line of people in front of me making their way up the final hill. I tried to kick it in as much as I could, but I seem to no longer have any fast twitch muscles, and couldn't quite fight off the two men who blew past me in the final steps before the finish line. Still, I ended up finishing in 1:16:27, not quite the 1:15 I was secretly hoping for, but a time I was pretty happy with, nonetheless. Snowman finished, ahead of me (as usual), in 1:10:59. He was a bit disappointed with his race, but I think he did great - although I am his wife, so he says it doesn't count :-)

Complete results here.

Eric and the Maine Track Club put on a great race, full of wonderful volunteers (Emma included!) and with a nice spread of pizza at the end. Despite being slightly painful, it was a good race, and I'm sure that we'll be out there again next year, just to torture ourselves :-)

We met up with Mindy and her friend Claire for brunch at Becky's Diner after the race, which was a lot of fun and just what we needed. Of course, I am hungry again and looking forward to pizza while watching the SuperBowl with Nate and Shannon tonight!