Aetna Park to Park 10 miler

I haven’t gotten a chance to update the blog from the vacation! I have a great title post too! 4 runs in 4 states! Stay tuned :-)

Well the past few weeks I have been focusing on the 10 mile Aetna Park to Park race that starts in City Park in Denver. It winds through Cap Hill through Cheeseman Park, Alamo Placita Park and then finishes in Washington Park! I have never run 10 miles before, so this was a big deal! I was slowly building my long runs each week being careful not to run too much too early! I think it paid off :-)

2 weeks ago AA and I got the chance to do a practice run of the route. We got a little messed up at the beginning but my watch clocked in at 9.5 miles (longest run at that point). I did not stop, and while slower, my goal was just to finish. I had been methodically building one extra mile per week since my tri and was able to stick to my schedule. The week before I tapered a little and only did an 8 mile run.

The Race

It started at 7:30 AM near Denver Zoo. Aunt Molly was visiting and was so kind to drop us off at the start since it was a point to point! The race environment seemed very lax but from the look of the runners, there were many veteran runners with a few 10 milers under their belt! With the timing over Labor Day it serves as a great practice jaunt for fall ½ and full marathons!

There were plenty of porta potties and water and Gatorade at the start. I had picked up our packets the day before so it was an easy morning! The race started promptly at 7:30 and we were off! I quickly checked my pace and noticed I was going out a bit too fast and settled in to a 10:30ish pace. The first 3 or so miles wound through City Park and I was ready to hit the streets! I continued to pace myself well and hit right around the 10:30ish for my miles. My watch was beeping a bit before the mile markers and in the end I had about a 10.13 final race distance.

I was amazed at the great traffic control they had since we crossed SO many roads and I never had to stop! As AA pointed out, this is where a lot of the race $ goes to (packing for officers). The first four miles had some uphill but after we left Cheeseman Park I picked up on a nice little downhill and was happy about that! I felt good for the next few miles and continued to pace myself. I found myself not near too many runners but was happy that I seemed to be passing most (albeit slowly) at this point which made me feel good about my pacing. Around mile 8 I was feeling good but the entry in to Wash Park I definitely hit some sort of wall and struggled with a 10:37 pace (on my watch) for mile 9. Once mile 10 hit though, I knew I had to finish strong and made the final mile a 10:00 pace!

My official time had me at a pace 10:36 and my watch had me at a pace of 10:27 – so that averages around 10:30 right!? Officially it will be the 10:36 though! My low expectations had me at 11 min/miles and my optimistic side wanted at least 10:45 so I was happy! My official time was 1:45:37 :-)

The Route

Splits!

 AA had a great race too! His knee has been bothering me a little so he took the previous 10 days off but finished strong at 1:27:51 (8:50 pace). There were 732 finishers in the 10 mile portion of the race. Jen’s boyfriend Danny raced (13th place) and another friend of Jen’s was there as well so it was nice to see some familiar face!

They had bananas, water, energy drinks, bagel things from Panera, duffey rolls and more to eat afterwards - so good!

Post Race!!

 

Looking forward

The 10 miler was a great stepping stone for the ½ marathon approaching on October 21st. Including this weekend, it gives me 6 training weekends and then the race weekend to prep. During that time there is a trip to Napa, trip to Omaha, a trip back east and friends visiting another weekend. 2+ hour training runs are going to be hard but I will try! Here is what I am thinking:

Weekend of: 9/8 – (home) 10 mile run on Sunday 9/15 – (Napa) attempt shorter 5 or 6 mile run 9/22 – (East coast) – 11 mile run Friday after traveling 9/29 – (home) – 12 mile run Sat (Bronco game Sunday!) 10/9 – (visitors) – 13 mile run…somewhere :-) 10/13 – (Nebraska) – 10K race with the family! …taper! 10/20 – race weekend!!!

My Uncle James and Aunt Stella are also driving from Nebraska for the Boulder race so I am really excited to share another race with James and Stella’s first in Colorado! :-)