Dave's 10 Mile Shoe Run Race Report

It's all fun and games at the start until you've run your second Ohio Turnpike overpass in the race at mile 4.5 out of the 4 overpass crossings in the race with the last being at mile 8.5! Ok, individually the race went well and I exceeded my expectations for myself. As far as me in relation to the rest of the field of runners... let's just say 79.07% I only saw from the rear by the time I finished. These Toledo RoadRunners really take their running seriously and... are seriously fast! We left for Delta, Ohio about 12:15, after Tammy pulled her homemade apple pie out of the oven. Lindsey and Tammy accompanied me, which I was SO grateful for! I ate a PB&J on the drive there and downed a bottle of water. Got to Delta about 1:00ish. The race setup was great in that we were able to use the Pike-Delta-York High School cafeteria for a staging area and there were several available restrooms in adjacent halls (which I frequented like 3 times before the race!) and we had access to the locker rooms off the gym. I did a warm up jog and stretched and decided on what I would run in clothing-wise. It was about 39 and light drizzle, perfect for running a race. The race started on time at 2:00 p.m. There were like 172 runners, 135 of which pulled away from me immediately! My intentions for this race was to go out at like a 9:00 min/mile pace for the first couple of miles and then ramp it up to about 8:30/mile for the remainder if possible, but NOOOOO.... the other runners just had to be so freakin' fast that they made me go out at 8:30/mile. Through the first couple of miles I just focused on holding that pace and getting into a comfortable (yea right) stride at it. People were passing me periodically, although there weren't too many folks left behind me other than those running the race with walkers! We went over the Ohio Turnpike a total of 4 times. The first time was only about a mile into the race. Not so bad. The second time was starting at about 4.25 miles. I started getting a pretty bad sub-sternal pain at this point which then moved to my right upper quad in my abdomen. GAH! I NEVER get stitches like this! It was so bad that once I crested the overpass and started on my way down, I was considering bailing on the race. WOULD NOT! Thankfully there was a water station at mile 5 which saved my life AND my race. I walked through the station and slowly drank the cup of water to make sure I didn't upset any contents to air ratio in my tummy which would cause me to lose my PB&J and water. I started back up again and tried pacing 8:30 - 8:45 for the rest of the race. I was tired, but getting increasingly optimistic after getting through that race hiccup at mile 4 - 5. When I got to 7, I felt pretty good and was actually picking up my pacing and passed a few of the fine folks that had been showing me their bums for most of the race. Mile 9 to the finish was tough, and seemed long, but I just focused on finishing strong at this point. I passed one or two other runners and then saw Tammy at about 9.75 miles and started hammering it home as best as I could with what would lamely be called "my kick" telling her "I need help!". Lindsey was right at the finish cheering me through and taking my pic - the one in the sidebar at the right, which is in stark contrast to the one above! I finished in 1:26:23, about an 8:39 min/mile pace and better than my goal time of 1:30:00. I was happy with my effort, but astonished at the speed out there in the field today. I finished 136/172 runners and probably last in my age group, but that was a long and fast race for me and I don't think I could have run it any faster. They had some great eats, ham and turkey sammiches, chicken noodle soup, and apples afterward and we chatted with the Calhoun family (the girls all ran and kicked MY butt - and many others' too though - Kate 1:08 something, Kelsey 1:16 something, Errin 1:20 something), I changed into dry clothes and we headed back home. Thanks Tammy and Lindsey for going with me... it meant the world to me! I love you guys!