Race Recap: Lawyers Have Heart 10K 2013

First, I want to thank everyone who supported my fundraising efforts for the American Heart Association. Your generosity and support pushed me way past my goal, on to the next level of giving. I thought of each and every one of you as I pushed myself towards the finish line on race day. Thank you!

I woke up to perfect weather for the Lawyers Have Heart 10K. The rain from tropical storm Andrea had moved out, but it was still overcast. While I prefer to race in cooler weather, I can’t complain about the upper 60s in June.

I started my day with a quick shower, a Kashi 7 Grain waffle, and coffee.

Of course I used the mug that was my  fundraising thank you gift from last year!

My knee still was tender to the touch and sporting a multi-colored bruise, but it didn’t hurt when I walked and didn’t seem to have been aggravated by Friday’s dog walk.

I took some Advil just in case.

Even though I was driving myself and a friend, my husband was up, so I got him to take a pre-race picture.

It was hard to find a shirt that wasn’t too obnoxious with my neon socks and shoes!

I was worried about the race logistics with a 5K, 10K and 3K fun walk sharing the same out-and-back course, but it worked out. The 5K started first,the 10K started 1/2 hour later, and the 3K started after that. The start corrals were set up in the center of the road, the 5K finished along one side, the 10K finished through the corrals, and the 3k finished on the other side. We got to see the first 5K finishers before we started, but it was hard to cheer them on since we were already packed into the corrals.

Despite the near-perfect conditions, I still had a rough time with the Lawyers Have Heart course. Reviewing my split times, it looks like I did a pretty good job of pacing myself during the first mile, but then that second mile was too fast. You can see that I really struggled in mile 3 and mile 5, and I was really pushing myself in mile 6 to finish strong. Just keep running, Just keep running.

I don’t have a lot of confidence in the elevation profile, because it should look pretty much like a mirror image after the central turn-around point. The slight differences at miles 1/5 make sense because we were on different ramps of the freeway, but I don’t understand why miles 2 and 4 look so different!

I think the main reason that the Lawyers Have Heart is so tough is the heat. Yes, it was only 70F, but it was in the 50s and 60s during my spring 10 mile races. Also, except for the last few tenths of a mile there is absolutely no crowd support anywhere on this course. Thank goodness I had my tunes to keep my going–I actually used the playlist I created for this race 2 years ago!

I thought I was way off my goal of finishing in about 52:30, but I still saw 52:xx on the race clock as I approached the finish line! As it turns out, I was only a few seconds off that goal.

6th in my age group? I didn’t expect that!

(Not a PR–I found a race bib from 7 years ago where I finished in 52:21,
but I bet I beat the line!)

I made my way through the finish area, got my the Lawyers Have Heart finishers’ medal, and took a few moments to enjoy the mist from the fountain!

If my shoes weren’t so new, I would have joined the kids who were playing in the spray!

My friend found me as I was walking towards the celebration area–she said my socks were easy to spot–and we enjoyed the post-race festivities for a bit before we braved the line at Starbucks and headed home.

All in all, it was a much better race than I expected, especially considering that I hurt my knee and didn’t run at all this week. On my “notes for next time,” here are the few things that I wish I had done differently:

• I wish I had taken my inhaler. Since I hadn’t run all week, and I only use it for running (and only recently even for that), I just didn’t think about it. I think I would have been able to recover faster from my too-fast mile if my lungs weren’t struggling with the humid air. 
• I wish I had put Gatorade or at least ice in my water bottle. It was almost chilly before we started, but it warmed up quickly and even got sunny a few times. My luke-warm water just wasn’t refreshing.
• I wish I had eaten something closer to the race start time. I’m pretty sure I had burned off that 75 calorie Kashi waffle that I ate at 5:30 by the 7:30 start time. I had stashed a mini Lara Uber bar in my fuel belt, but forgot about eating it until I was a mile into the race.

Did you race this weekend? 

Do you adjust race goals for summer heat? 

Do you make a list of things you want to do differently next time?