Graniteman 10k Re-Cap

In a nutshell - I had an amazing run! Everything just clicked from the beginning, and I never looked back!

Graniteman half-marathon is a smaller event put on in central Minnesota. The 5k on Friday night had 90 runners, the 10k 166 runners, and the half-marathon 266 runners.  In addition to the half-marathon, they put on a series of triathlons throughout the summer. (If I ever do a tri, I will likely do one of theirs first!) I have known about their events for awhile now, but never signed up for one. I am glad I finally did!

I didn't make it to packet pick-up Friday night, but it was also available on Saturday morning. I got there early enough that there were no lines and it was super simple. Walk up to the table, give them your name, sign the waiver, receive your bib, chip, and t-shirt! My only issue with this process was that there were 3 Katie Smith's registered. One for the half, one for the 10k, and one for the 5k. Thankfully, I was the only one for the 10k and the only one that was 34 years old. It still must have caused them some confusion though because I became a Katie Smith from Minneapolis. Not a huge deal, I guess!

The waiting around for 7:50 when the pre-race announcements started got a little long, but I managed. At 8am the half runners were off. So, I spent some of the next 15 minutes walking laps in the parking lot trying to loosen up my legs and stay warm (it was cool outside, but perfect running weather!)

Finally, the 10k race was underway! It was a little bit of a crowded start for the first few minutes, but I think this worked in my favor. I was able to stay patient and it kept me from going out too fast.

To back up for a second, my A goal for this race was to be right around 1 hour. Similar to the 4 and 5 mile races I did this summer, I wanted to be right at the 10:00min/mile pace. I didn't get more exact on the time because I was too lazy to factor in the .2!

I was a little bit frustrated with myself - because once again I did speed work on Wednesday and forgot to reset my auto lap! Somehow I kept myself from worrying about my watch the whole race and just ran. I tried to only look every 4th beep! There were very few moments that I felt like it was super hard. Honestly, I couldn't have asked for a better run!

When I did start to feel a little bit tired, we were close to the turn around so I occupied my brain by counting the runners coming back towards me. I wouldn't necessarily recommend that strategy - it could easily be a mental downer for some - but it worked for me. I don't go into races expecting to place; I just want to feel competitive with myself and expect myself to fall middle of the pack for these shorter races.

The next spot it got difficult was right around 5 miles. I just told myself I had one mile left, and I had this. Suddenly, I knew I was at 5.75 miles. I realized that meant I had just two more watch beeps left. I was running my quarter miles at or around 2:30, and had the realization that an hour was actually doable! I kicked it in .... maybe starting a little too soon since I was gagging and working really hard not to throw up at the finish line ... in that last half of a mile, the only time I slowed down was when the leader of the half-marathon passed me! I was amazed. He finished in like 1:16 - 7 minutes before the second place runner!

As for my finish? 1:01 flat, a 9:51 average pace! My Garmin ended with 1:01:26 and 6.28 miles - but I didn't stop it right away. I was a little preoccupied (see above!)

This was only my second timed 10k, and over a 6 minute PR. :)  My last official time was 1:07:52 - but it was a long course. That day I timed myself at a 1:05:50 at the 10k mark...

Here's a link to my official results. (I'm still not sure how they got my age right but not my residence?)

Relishing in the fact that the physical elements and the mental aspect all came together for a perfect race! The great course and perfect weather didn't hurt anything either!