Thanks4Giving 10k

My pre-thanksgiving post detailed the things I am thankful for and the goals I had for my 10k on Thanksgiving. I had hopes of breaking 1 hour so I set my goal for 59 at a 9:30 pace. I was nervous driving up to Lowell, hoping I could push to a new PR.

I know this Lowell course VERY well. It is where we run 2 races a year and at least 1 or 2 triathlons so I know every rise in the road and every turn. As usual Thanksgiving races are packed! This year there were about 5 lines of pickups for 5k numbers and 1 line for us crazy 10k folks. We grabbed our numbers and met up with friends. D had offered to pace me. I was psyched to have the help! Our friend Matt offered to stick with us too, which was very sweet of him.

We went through the first loop dodging all the 5k folks. And as always the second loop was sparse with runners. D started talking me through pushing to the finish. Talked me through form, talked me through the upcoming parts of the course. It was great. I could barely breathe, I had a cramp on my side pretty bad. Which seems to happen when I push my pace. I tried to squeak out I can't breathe in response to his coaching. My muscles didn't hurt much, I get used to the little twinges here and there but the breathing is the thing that gets me. D kept pushing me, telling me to stop looking at my watch and just run.

Well with all the coaching and pushing through the slight lack of oxygen I did it- 58:28 to be exact. I didn't just barely go under 1 hour. I smashed that idea. I'm so psyched! It brings me into a whole new 10k pace! With D talking in my ear the whole time I was able to shut up a lot of the voices in my head of you need to catch your breath. For my next 10k I will be sure to have those words running through my head. I can't wait to run the course again on New Years! I think I might be able to push it again! Thank you all for your words of encouragement for the goals I set before the race. And I owe a HUGE thank you to D for his awesome job pacing!