Last Race of 2009 Report-JATW

Well the 7:45 AM early start today was a blessing in disguise, since the rain didn't come down that much in the early hours. It was pretty much a sort of mist, nothing more, which was great, since I wanted to run a PR today and end my 2009 year with a positive performance. Beth was so great to come out today in such lousy weather and support me and the GRC team, she continues to amaze me. Kudos to her.
I met the GRC team for a warm-up and met some new faces. It's always nice meeting new people. After trying to find Max for race numbers, I put on my flats, did a few strides, and was ready to go. I went out not as hard this time as my previous 10Ks, splitting 5:16 for the 1st mile. After a mile and a half, I decided to ditch the arm warmers, I was already wearing tights, and I felt it was too much to be wearing the arm warmers as well, so I threw them to the side(after having to take my watch off as well-annoying). I started worrying at the 2mile split: 10:43. Woah. little slow, Chris. This was my slowest 2mile split of my last 2 10K races. Mile 3 split: 16:09. Still the slowest of my past 2 races. But what then I realized was that I was running a more even race this time. The last 2 10Ks I ran, I went out fast the first 5K, then slowed 30-40 seconds for the 2nd 5K. In this race, I was running even. Mile 4: 21:35. Better. I started focusing on Gareth Peters who was not far ahead of me and I was gaining on little by little. Mile 5: 27:02. I started passing Gareth with less than a mile to go, he tried to hang on. By now I was hauling ass. I knew I was negative splitting the last mile, and Gareth hung on my shoulders. Mile 6: 32:20. A 5:18 last mile. Definitely hauling ass. As I neared the finish line, I felt Gareth kicking right by, I kicked as well, and gave him a good fight, but he nipped me just barely to grab 8th place. I was dissapointed I lost, but it was a good fight.

Turns out, I ran a very even race, splitting 16:44 for the 1st 5K, and 16:45 for the second 5K.

Splits today:

5:16
5:27
5:26
5:26
5:27
5:18
1:09

I ended the 2009 year with a PR today: 33:29 for the 10K. GRC also took home the team title. I really can't complain. It has been a great year and I have run some solid races. The highlights of my 2009 year are below:

2/07/09 USA Cross Country Championships- 12K 42:52, 93rd place
5/03/09 Frederick Marathon- 2:43:25, 2nd place
9/06/09 VA Beach Rock n Roll Half Marathon- 1:15:32, 29th place
12/13/09 Jingle All The Way 10K- 33:29, 9th place

Now it's time to take a break from racing, and begin training for 1/2 Marathon/Marathon racing for 2010. My next race isn't until February 28th.