llbean 4th of july 10k

it comes as no surprise that a week has gone by and i havent blogged about my last race. (i also never wrote about the 5k i raced after boston... i guess that one just wont happen. actually heres a quick break down)...

husky dash 5k- a local race in gorham benefiting maine medical center cancer institute. the race was organized by a co workers son, and i found out about the race 2 days before. sure, why not.

in true danielle 5k fashion i started off fast (weeeeee yaaaaay 6:30s are funnnnnn #barf), climbed the big hill (see idiot, shouldnt have gone out so fast #morebarf), weeeeeeee downhill to the finish. the end.

7:02
7:04
6:54

21:21. a new 5k PR. finished first female, 4th overall. super surprised with this race, likely the best executed 5k ive ever run. maybe i should do these things more often... way less training than marathons!

great recap. sweet heel strike.


ok so onto 4th of july... every year we register for llbean 4th of july 10k and then curse ourselves when its a zillion degrees and a billion % humidity and they never change the course and the hills suck and we basically die. that about sums up yet another year of this race, except it was in the 50s when we woke up, which felt fantastic. it was quite humid though, and when the sun came out it started to get hot. certainly a cooler year temp wise compared to others, but not by much.

i woke up early to get a few miles in before leaving (knowing i wouldnt want to run before the race once we got up there), had some coffee and a small breakfast, and ty and i headed up to freeport. we met allie and jamie when we parked, and michelle came to find us too (for our pre race selfie, of course).

michelle is super patriotic. i was still trying to wake up.

we went to the flagship store to utilize the bathrooms (we werent the only ones with this idea... sorry llbean! this is what happens when you dont have locks on your doors and youre open all the time! yay for no pre race portapotties!) then i ran another little bit, changed my shoes (i looked like red white and blue barfed all over me) and headed to the start line. we couldnt find leslie, running late no surprise haha (looking for tall and neon... she usually stands out fairly well)... and then before we knew it we were off. i hadnt really had any sort of goal or gameplan in mind, was just gonna run and see what happened.

"just gonna run and see what happened"... also known as a fantastic way to run a horrific 10k. this race distance is likely my least favorite. 5ks are stupid and fast and over quick. 10ks are twice that distance (duh) and i still try to run stupid fast which ends up making me feel awful and question all life decisions in under an hour. running is so fun.

the start of the race, as always, was awful. a small road packed with a zillion people and if youre not basically standing on the start line, good luck for the first half mile. so crowded. you start downhill and everyone seems like theyre trying to win from the get go. i knew it was a bad idea, but i weaved in and out and around people until i found a good open spot, then took off (right after one of the boudreau twins, sorry guys i dont know which one you were, ran up behind me screaming CAW! scared the shit out of me! and then they likely really did win the race). after an 11 minute pace starting off, i was now looking at 6:30s... i want to just throw my watch off a cliff sometimes. i reigned it back in as best i could, but still knew i was running too fast for this course (and i knew i was not in PR shape so wtf are you doing idiot slow down!). of course i dont listen well and kept running... fast.

7:12

ok, not terrible, but im pretty sure that was a combo of the 6:30s and the slow start. the entire first mile is weeeeee yay i love running downhill and then goes up. then some more down, then up. up. up. (barf). and more up. begin 2016 llbean 10k breakdown after mile 1. yay.

7:22

7:29

7:47

you see where this is heading. my legs felt like lead. it was getting hot (despite most of the race in the shade... which felt like a rainforest in places). i wanted to walk more than anything, but i pushed through. dumped water on my head and back of my neck at each stop (which were pretty far spaced apart for a hot hilly race, IMO). i had my handheld of tailwind so i thankfully didnt rely on water stops for hydration. 

running through the cemetery just before the biggest hill on the course was certainly fitting for how i felt at that moment. d.e.a.d. 

8:14

oops. awful. but i was able to pick myself up at the top of the hill and finish semi respectfully. i wanted this race done with. the last mile is mostly downhill with a small uphill finish (and a bridge, yuck). i went back and forth with a guy in a red shirt and we helped push each other. 

7:51

guy in red shirt had passed me, i caught him at the finish

(photo credits to Allyn!)

i dont know that ive ever felt fantastic running this race. its a tough course and typically hot and humid, but its fun to get out early on the 4th of july and see friends. so yay, llbean 10k every year! of course. (and just for fun ill put in the reminder that the one year i made sarah run this race she puked at the end. she hates when i talk about it and i think its hilarious. sadly i cant find the post race pic of us).

...oh say does that star spangled banner yet waaaaveeee...

one day ill get this whole racing thing right

(and not always try to win the race to the port-a-potty post race)

47:30

198/1174 overall

10/95 age group

pace, heart rate, hills, oh my!

post race hydration at its finest... 

thumbs up for america!