Another 10k, Then Another...

Last Sunday (Sept. 17th), I ran my third 10k of the year. It was in beautiful, scenic Sandpoint, Idaho. It was called, coincidentally, the Scenic Half & 10k. My speedy friend Dan drove to my place in Spokane Valley, spent the night, then we arose at o-dark-thirty for the 75 minute drive up to Sandpoint. It was a fairly small race, with the 10k field being 128 runners, and the half with 308 finishers. There was still some smoke lingering in the very cool air (under 40°f at race time), but it was a sunny, dry day.

Dan and the rest of the half marathoners started at 8:00am, and us wimpy 10k runners at 8:15. The 10k course was a pretty flat (my Garmin gave it 107' of elevation) out-and-back affair, mostly on the bridge extending over lake Pend Orielle (pronounced "Pond O-Ray" for you non-locals). My watch said I was running at about 7:10 pace for the first few hundred feet, so I dialed it down and settled into about a 7:45-7:50 per mile pace.

I've been fighting a cold or some kind of chest congestion, which—combined with the smoke—made it harder than usual to breathe. Who knows how much that affected my time, but I'm pretty sure I could have clipped several seconds off my finish time without those issues.

I ran the first couple of miles with two other guys who looked to be in my age group (one of them was, I verified later), but I gradually pulled away from them. At mile 4, another middle-aged guy pulled even with me, not breathing as hard as I was, then gradually left me behind. After finishing, I asked him his age. "44" he said, to which I responded with a sigh of relief (hey, I covet age group wins, even in small races!)

My friend Dan finished 3rd overall in the half marathon, with a time of 1:28!

My official time was 47:08 (7:37 pace). Slower than my Santa Monica 10k in June, but faster than my Chelanman 10k in July.

I'm running yet a fourth 10k in 3 days, as of this post. The ValleyFest 10k will start just a 20 minute drive from my house. Historically, the field has been very small (basically, a group run), so I'm not sure how motivated I'll be to push for a fast time, nor sure if I'll ever ditch this pesky cold.

Here are my official numbers (and some photos) from the Sandpoint Scenic 10k

TIME: 47:08
PACE: 7:37/mi
OVERALL PLACE: 6 of 128
MEN: 5 of 41
AGE GROUP: 1 of 3

Yes, compression socks. I'm old. And it was cold.

Pretty nice medal for a small 10k!