DATE: February 11; 8:30 am
DISTANCE: 10K
PLACE: Kemp Mill, MD
WEATHER: 48F; rainy
OFFICIAL TIME / PACE: 21:10:01 / 11:30 min/mi
SWAG: light pre- and post-race snacks
Boy oh boy, it has been a long time since my last race report, but I was somewhat happy to run my 1st race as a resident of Maryland.
Thoughts:
Although this was a race, I really could not run as hard as I wanted to because I incorporated this race in to my 10 mile run. I ran 2 miles from our house, the 10K race, and 2 miles back to the house. The race was organized by the Montgomery County Road Runners Club (MCRRC) and was very low-key. Actually, this race was a part of MCRRC low-key race series, and I think it was the smallest race that I've completed. I think there were about 70 folks running. I wonder if more runners would have showed up had it not been for the rain or the Super Bowl. While it was a smaller race, I was actually a bit intimidated because everyone (well ~90% of the runners) had great running bodies. Geez, some of those male runners' quads and calves were on fire.
Course:
Although the name of the race has hills in it, I did not think that there was gonna be THAT many hills.
After hitting the first major hill within the first 0.5 miles of the race, I really considered running the 5K instead of the 10K. I forgot to mention that we had to option to run either 5K or 10K around mile four. However, when I saw the fork in the road (left for 10K and right for 5K), I decided to power through, especially because I really wanted to run 10 miles for my long run.
When they said low-key, they were not kidding because we started at a local elementary school and ran through the a quiet Kemp Mill neighborhood. I guess it was nice to have this low-key race because it gave me a little opportunity to explore the neighborhood a bit, even though I do not really remember where the hell we were running. Since the race took us through a Kemp Mill neighborhood, unfortunately, the roads were not completely closed with a few cars driving along the course.
Speaking of low-key, I had to LOL (in a good way) because MCRRC uses old school timer chips that one has tie on their shoes. I haven't seen one of these since my early New York Road Runner (NYRR) days back in early 2011.
Hey, it was all good in the hood. As long as the racing chip tracks the time, I don't really care where it goes. Random, I wonder if these chips are sensitive enough to be attached to running clothes or bib.
Since I was in long-run mode, I stuck to my walk 0.1 - 0.15mi at the beginning of each mile. With all of those inclines and declines, I definitely need those bits of recovery. Actually 24 hrs post race, my quads and calves are still quite sore, so I guess this race gave me a great workout. Also, it showed me that I REALLY need to do more hill work and that I have a long to go on my fitness journey. Also, this race made realized how much I missed participating in races, so with that I'm 99.9% certain that I'll register for an MCRRC membership.
Playlist:
I was feeling an 80s vibe, and this Spotify playlist has some pretty nice uptempo beats. Although I am an early 80s baby, I wish that I was an adult during that bc the music was so fun. Ummm....maybe not, bc from what I know HIV was a bit of a b*tch back then. Well, the virus is still a b*tch in today's times, but it's a bit more manageable now.