Iron Girl Clearwater 10K

4th year in a row...wouldn't miss it! However, once again, no taper, my body is tired and I have to convince myself that I need to run all-out for 6.2 miles. Ughhh

On Friday my mom, Campy and I picked up my stuff at the expo down at Coachman park (race venue). I gave a big hug to Judy (IG president) and I saw several other familiar faces. Judy loved Campy, as did many other people at the expo. Campy said hi to many dogs and like usual, he had a little bark and kick with his back legs to let the dogs know that he is a small dog with a big bite (even though he doesn't bite :).
I had a light dinner and some fruit w/ yogurt for desert and at 10pm it was lights out. I woke up at 5:30 to start the coffee and warm my oatmeal. I didn't want a lot of food in me so I had 1/2 packet of oatmeal and raisins. Just enought to keep my tummy happy but light enough to digest easily. At 6am I made my 50 min drive to downtown clearwater and after about 15 min of waiting around, it was time for the start.
I love and hate this course. We go over the big causeway two times, just like the 70.3 clearwter world championships. This race never gets easier.
I started towards the front before the Aflac duck told us to go...3,2,1...AFLAC!!! What a non-intimidating way to start. Plus, with over 1500 women at this race, it is really easy to enjoy yourself at the start. Judy gave us her usual positive and moving pre-race talk and off we went at 7:30.
My plan for this race was to run all out. Something I never do because I have no idea how to pace myself. Obviously, there is no real pace if you go all-out so I guess I wanted to pace myself in an all-out effort. Ha..that didn't work. Without my intervals every mile (1 mile hard, 10 sec. easy) like I do in 15K, halfs and fulls, I found myself losing time in the 10 sec recovery period and not being able to pick back up the pace again.
I just pushed as hard as I could and did the best I could. I got passed by three girls between mile 2 and 4 and after that, luckily, I was able to hold my spot.
I finished 7th overall and 1st in my age group. My time was respectable (45 min) but 3 min. off my PR. I am, however, happy with a 7:18 min/mile pace and as always, I love placing in my age group and receiving the awesome IG age group awards.
Please join me in amusement as I post my splits:
7:13 (up the bridge)
6:07 (down the bridge..seriously, I don't even run that fast in my intervals!)
7:57 (tried to recover)
7:27 (girls are passing me..they are so fast)
6:59 (where did that come from?)
8:17 (back up the bridge and down..pacing myself to not lose my legs)
1:22 (sprint to the finish)
Finish: 45.27

There is only about 2 miles total of flat course for this event. I think Judy loves challenging us. Just because it is an IG event, there is nothing "girly" about this course. However, after the race there is plenty of pink from the t-shirts (AWESOME this year) to the finish line chute to the post race breakfast cafe. If you ever get a chance to race an IG event, don't pass up the opportunity! It is one amazing experience and you will love all of the amenities. They even gave us reusable tote bags instead of plastic goody bags..totally environmentally friendly!
Enjoy the pics!