Cotton Row 10k Again

Monday will be the most prepared I've been for a race course ever. I've run the Cotton Row 10k course nearly 10 times in the past couple of months. I know the turns well. I know where the mile markers are. I know where the hills are. I know what's coming next at any point on the course. I know both how far from the start and finish I am most anywhere on the course. I think I'm going to like running the race knowing the course that well.

I met Mike this morning at 5:45 (those of you who know me know that 5:45 means 5:50) to run the 10k course. I was a bit disheveled this morning because of a lack of sleep (for the second night in a row) and I wasn't in my car. I am just a bit out of my routine this week.

Anyway, we started at about a 7:30 pace and it felt like I was sprinting! Mike was clearly pulling me along. I will have to warm up well without cooking all my eggs before this race. after about a mile and a half, I was settled into a comfortable pace near 7:00. I didn't want to go too hard today, but I did want to test a few things on the course. Mile 3 is going to be a killer. Up the hill on Mountainwood, I pushed pretty hard, but not like I will on race day. Then, I tried to hit 7:00 pace as soon as possible after topping the hill. I was successful with that. On race day, I'm hoping to hit 6:25 as soon as possible after that hill. I let it fly on mile 5, trying to go about race pace, but again, I didn't want to go too hard today. I want to save something for my legs for Monday.

I finished in 43:59. I did start my watch a little early (so splits aren't exact) and I did double back on the course some. I just need to shave 4 minutes off of that by Monday!!

1. 7:25
2. 6:59
3. 7:04
4. 6:54
5. 6:28
6. 6:54
7. 2:12