"Race" Reports

So, I ran the Manhattan Beach 10k two weeks ago, and it was my slowest ever ... 1:03:56, but it was a beautiful day, I had fun, and I got a cool tee shirt. Unlike most race shirts that are filled with ads, this one always has a photo of the MB Pier and no ads. And it's long sleeve.

I have never been fast, but my goal in a 10k had always been to run each mile in under 10 minutes and thus finishing the race in under an hour. On this day though, I was happy to be keeping the miles at under 11 minutes. It seems that 11 has become the new 10!

I know what I need to do to get it back .... I need to drop a few pounds and I need to push myself a little harder in my training. During Ironman training, I got use to the LSD (long, slow, distance) workouts. My IM race was 4 months ago, and I have fully recovered. There is no reason I need to keep running at that snail's pace.

Thursday morning I pushed myself, and I actually "won" a 4.5 mile race. The woman, whom I'll call Racer X, didn't know we were racing. But still, I won :)

I've seen Racer X for years. Up until last year she was always walking with a man I assume is/was her husband. He walked a little bit faster than her so every few feet she would jog to catch up to him. And she was always talking ... it looked like he was trying to get away from her incessant chatter. He would say good morning to me, but she would never acknowledge my presence. And that bothered me. Lately she has been alone, AND she's been running. I have wondered what happened to Mr. X. Did she decide she liked those little jogs she took to catch up to him, and just kept going? Did he dump her, so she turned to running to work out the pain? I have wanted to ask her, but she STILL won't look at me. I smile, I say good morning, but I get nothing back from this woman.

Usually Racer X is going in the opposite direction I am, but on Thursday, as fate would have it, she was going my way, and she had stopped to tie her jacket around her waist. This time as I passed her I said nothing, and as my friend Laurie would say, "I put the hammer down!" I heard foot steps but never looked back. She was NOT going to pass me. At one point, I thought maybe I should slow down and get the story. But I didn't think she would talk to me, and I'm just a tad bit competetive. I don't know when or where she turned around, but I never saw her again. I had a GOOD run though. I ran 10 minute miles and was about 3 minutes faster than I have been in recent months.

Next up: The San Diego Triathlon Challenge, which I'm doing as relay this year. I'll be running 13 hilly miles for this one. It's not too late to donate :)