IBM 10k

Woo Hoo.....what a day!!

Set a new 10k PR 48:12!!
Rocked it. (previous PR was 56:17, set last year at IBM. 8 min. PR. HUGE!!)

Woke at 5am. Ate a banana, two cups of coffee, got dressed, and headed out the door. K and I got down to the race early. 6:30am. Which was nice to be early, we were very early. But that was fine. Headed over to the Rogue tent. Just a few people there, Mike, Ruth, Steve. Hung out, drank a little water, hit the porta-potty. Soon many more Rogues were showing up.
7:15am Eric, Cindy, and I headed out with the group for a 2 mile warm-up. Nice easy jog. Felt good. Back to the tent, little water, another porta-potty stop. Then headed to the start line.

Lined up about a 1/3 of the way back I'd say. Decent place to start. The race started about 5 mins after 8am. Not too bad.
Was crowded for the first mile, navigated my around, tried not to push it too much, just get in a rhythm. Hit the first mile at 8:07, about 12 secs. slow. That's ok. Still crowded on the second mile, but slightly better, hit the second mile around 7:28, too fast. Miles 3 & 4 were better, crowd had thinned so easier to keep my pace steady. Avg. 7:45 on these two miles. Good pace.
Hit the hills after mile 4, kept a good pace, maybe a little fast, but manageable. 7:38 for mile 5. With the end in sight tried to keep the effort level up, but it was getting hard, well all of it was hard, but definitely feeling it, 8:07 for mile 6. And then the last .2 to the finish 1:21.
I left it all out on the course, had nothing left after the finish. It was a great feeling.

Excellent crowd support, Leilani was cheering loudly, saw her a couple of times, and she ran with me for a bit towards the finish. It was awesome. Thank you.
Saw Mark and coach Amy several times, cow bell in hand, great support from them. The last time I saw them, which was close to the finish as we rounded the corner heading into the parking lot, Amy said, "empty the tank, Chuck" that clicked with me. It meant let it all out, go for it, don't leave anything on the course. Great words to hear. Thank you!!

It was an excellent day for many, both Cindy and Eric both PR'd, Eric by almost 7 minutes and Cindy by 3 minutes. Fantastic efforts by both.

Kiki had a great run as well. She went out and ran an even and sensible effort. Smart running. Good job hon.

Afterwards Kiki and I went to breakfast with David and Muna from ARC. They both had great runs as well. David PR'd. Good job man. Food and coffee was eagerly welcomed, and we had an excellent time hanging out with them and talking running. Love those two.

I credit this huge PR with all the work Eric and I have put in over the summer. Base building pays off. Put in the work and you'll see the results. David and Muna were instrumental in this endeavor. They were the ones who first put this thought into my head last spring. I greatly appreciate all the input and support I've received from them. Thank you.

It was a fantastic day of running. Today's race helps to build my confidence in my running. I know that I am on the right path. However it is only one small step. The road continues tomorrow when I get up and go for a run.

Run long...