This past weekend I ran the BAA 10k, one of three annual races in the BAA Distance Medley.  It’s a great course starting at the beautiful Boston Common and then heading down Commonwealth (or Comm Ave as we locals like to call it) all the way down past Boston University then we just turned around and came back around the Public Garden to the finish.  It was mostly flat and parts of it overlapped the marathon course.  With so many runners wanting to be a part of the next BAA event since the marathon this race sold out in just 13 hours.  It was obviously going to be very special and I’m so glad I was registered to be a part of it.  That being said, it wasn’t a great race for me.

The 10k is not my best distance.  In a 5k, I’m willing to feel the muscle pain and let my lungs burn a little since its only 22 minutes or so.  In a half marathon I can be strategic and settle into a challenging but manageable pace leaving some room at the end to step on the gas.  A 10k is a weird little place in between where I’m anxious to go out too fast but don’t want to waste too much time because in 3 miles I’m half way to the finish.

I went in to Sunday’s race assuming it wasn’t going to be my best.  Honestly, I haven’t completely recovered from last month’s marathon and every run has been somewhat of a struggle.  The 6.2 I ran on Sunday was the longest I have run since VCM so I knew it wasn’t going to be a fast race for me.   To top it off it was very warm and the sun was bright on the not-so-shady course.  I decided I would try for an average of 8 minute miles but anything below an 8:30 would be acceptable.  It was less than a mile before I knew 8’s weren’t happening but I was able to stay close to 8:15 for most of the race.  I crossed the finish line in 51:28 averaging 8:17. I have no complaints about my performance and was very happy to receive one more unicorn medal to add to my collection.

After stumbling across the finish line I heard my friend Brian calling for me.  He had found a great spot in the shade where you could see all the runners after they had finished.  We caught up while looking for Stacey to finish as well.  I also had an opportunity to see many of my SRR and Liver Foundation friends – most everyone had the same comment about the race…it was hot.

We spent a little time in Boston Common enjoying the day but I had to hit the road.  Brittany was coming home that day after spending a week with my parents while I was in Indianapolis.  Jumping into a car and driving 2 hours round trip is not my favorite way to recover from a race but it was worth it to bring my girl home.  My house has been clean and I haven’t had to arrange my schedule around her need to pee, but home just isn’t the same without her.

Sunday was my slowest 10k time but that’s out of only four others that weren’t that fast to begin with.  I have a chance to improve once again next week when I run the Finish at the 50 10k in Foxboro.  I hear the course has been changed and it’s a bit more challenging this year.   We will have to wait and see if I have it in me to tackle this tricky distance again.