CCC 2018 - a watchless race

Since I'm coming off injury, nowhere near PR shape, and need to know if I'm ready to train hard again, I decided to run the CCC 10k watchless. It wouldn't be completely blind, since there are on-course clocks, but I thought it would be wise to just run a steady tempo pace and assess my fitness, form, and feet. After a blow-up and aching foot at the Al Briede 5k a few weeks ago, I wanted to be careful.

It's been years since I purposefully ran a race without a watch, and I knew it would be tricky - it's a big race, and the crowd can easily sweep you away, plus I wasn't really sure of my fitness yet. I completed an entire workout on Tuesday, for the first time since my injury (albeit an easy workout, since it was race week), but then on Thursday I felt so bad and slow that I turned around and went home. I was up front in a seeded corral, which was a little humbling since I was easily the slowest in the group, but I did scoot back to make sure I was staying well behind others in my group that I might expect to be close to. I didn't want that temptation!

Free race pictures!

It's hard to write a race report without mile splits, but I do have some, thanks to the race results. I didn't look at on-course clocks, except for an accidental glance at mile 3, but I did know that I started out slow and easy. Sure enough, my results say I ran a 6:54. By then we had thinned out some, and I was able to stretch out and comfortably cruise. I felt like I was keeping a pretty steady pace, and I was breathing smoothly and easily. I grabbed water at mile 2; at mile 3, I saw that I was at 20:mid. I felt fine, but I reminded myself to just run a steady race and not take any risks. Now wasn't the day for that!

Looking like there is sun in my eyes!

I think the beautiful weather helped me feel so good, but I never felt winded or wretched like I usually do in 10ks. I did get a nasty side stitch at mile 5, which was annoying, and I also felt like I might have started to slow down at that point; it can be tough in a 10k since miles 4 - 5 are when the people around you might start to slow. For me, with no watch, that was tricky. I also kind of forgot how to kick at the finish, so my finish was exceedingly lackluster. But I felt completely fine, and in fact, not even tired! I finished in 41:27, and results tell me that my first half was 20:52 and my last half 20:35. All in all, it was a good confidence booster, both as practice pacing and a test for my foot. I felt good in both areas, and I'm confident that I can move back into training now.