On the Run: Farmington Run for the Hills 10K 2013

This weekend I ran what just might become one of my new favorite 10K's.  Run for the Hills is one that I've never run before.  Although this is the 4th year it's been held and Farmington isn't very far from me, for some reason I hadn't heard of it until this year.  There were less than 200 people in the 10K.  There was also a 5K run/walk that probably had more participants but overall it wasn't a crowded race.  It was, however, very well-staffed with friendly volunteers and race officials so everything went smoothly (at least as far as I could tell).  The start and finish was at beautiful Shiawassee Park in Downtown Farmington.  There were bagels and fruit before the race and more bagels, fruit, and pizza after.  I also liked that the shirt was optional and if you didn't want one your registration was cheaper (only $25!).  They were nice Leslie Jordan tech shirts but I opted out to save money and closet space!  

I've been running so much because of my marathon training but am always looking for something different to spice things up.  I was really looking forward to both the accelerated pace of the race and change of scenery.  The weather was perfect and I was super pumped to start running.  Once I got started, however, I was feeling a little tired and unsure just how much I would be able to kick it out.  The first mile didn't feel good.  I felt sluggish and a bit nauseous.  My pace wasn't steady.  This was not going well.

Not far past the first mile marker I came to the split for the 5K and 10K and I heard someone shouting my name.  I looked over and saw Kim and Dave, two of my teammates from GLR!  Not only was it exciting to see familiar faces, but seeing theirs was exactly what I needed at that point in the race.  It reminded me that this race was EASY.  I'd run much harder races than this at GLR, under much harsher conditions.  So I pushed myself.  I pushed hard.  I passed a lot of people, going both uphill and down.  I went from a 7:21 minute pace that first mile to a 6:24 minute pace for mile 6.  And it felt awesome!  The course had a lot of turns to make it interesting.  There was pavement and dirt road, hills and flats.  It wound through neighborhoods and went down busy roads.  The last bit of it was a gradual downhill, then the finish at Shiawassee Park.  Brian was there waiting for me to snap some photos.  Unfortunately he caught me leaning backward again - this is NOT Good Form Running!  (hanging head in shame)

I was shocked to find out that I was the 3rd woman overall to finish.  (So surprised that I actually didn't find out until after I got home!)  Because of the 5K and 10K together, I couldn't tell who I was passing up.  I also didn't expect to do so well with the hills.  In fact, this turned out to be a new PR for me - 13 seconds faster than my old PR at the zoo!  I even won $50 for coming in third.  Wahoo!  (That's totally buying me all the new Fall and Halloween soaps from Cellar Door.)  

Time 

43:04 

Pace

   6:57 min/mile

 Fuel

Banana

Tunes 

Out of My League / Fitz & the Tantrums 
The Innocent / Mayer Hawthorne 
Locked Out of Heaven / Bruno Mars 
50 Ways to Say Goodbye / Train 
Dance Apocalyptic / Janelle Monae
I Love It / Icona Pop 
Blurred Lines / Vampire Weekend 
What Makes You Beautiful / One Direction 
World Shut Your Mouth / Death Cab for Cutie 
A Little Party Never Killed Nobody (All We Got) / Fergie feat. Q-Tip & Goonrock  
Run Right Back / The Black Keys 
Battleflag / Lo Fidelity Allstars 
Radioactive / Imagine Dragons

Next race: Marquette Marathon, August 31st