Jamestown Bridge 10k

Results

The Jamestown Bridge 10k is a race I've always wanted to run.  2015 turned out to be the year when running the race finally became a reality with no travel plans, no other races, and no other commitments to interfere.  As my audience well knows, I mostly enjoy running 5ks, but the 10k is actually another distance I like.  Shara, who was also running, actually prefers the longer distances so the 10k works out as a perfect compromise for us. 

Prior to the race, all weather outlets warned of serious winds that could gust to 40 to 50 mph.  Awesome.  Too make matters even better, I've been battling a sinus/cold issue for the past week.  Great day for a race. 

With a very good scouting report from Seth, we arrived at the race nice and early to ensure we'd get good parking and would have plenty of time to warmup and make sure we were set.  After hiding from the wind in the car for about 40 minutes, Shara and I went out for a 10 minute warmup at about 8:15.  After warming up, I tried to get my game face on and focused on the task at hand.  Not feeling too hot, my strategy for the day was to run smart and run my own race (basically follow Seth's scouting report).

Miles 1-3
As the gun went off, I quickly settled in behind the pack.  With a quick downhill start and those wicked winds waiting for me, I wanted to expend as little energy as possible.  Sitting in 8th place, I hit the mile mark at 5:28 and felt like I was running easy.  As I climbed the bridge on my way out I passed a few runners and hit the my second mile in a split of 6:08.  When I crest the bridge, I started to see leaders of the 5k working their way up the bridge.  As I watched the leaders go over, I couldn't help but wonder why it looked like they were going so slow.  Crossing into Jamestown, I hit my third mile in 5:43 and sat in a distant 5th place.

Miles 4-6
I expected my suffering to begin on my way back over the bridge, but the Jamestown roads were much windier than I expected.  Moving through the Jamestown roads, I finally was able to "pull up" on another runner-happened to be a guy in a Fuel Belt Jersey (Tom G.).  Shortly after mile 4 (6:02 split), I pulled up on the Fuel Belt dude, who reminded me we only had two big hills to go.  I quickly responded, "Great."  In retrospect, I'm wondering why he didn't say anything about the wind.  Coming out of Jamestown, I started to cross up with 5k runners and the wind was gusting hard. I felt like I was running in slow motion and I hadn't even starting climbing over the bridge yet.  Moving up the bridge, I couldn't spot any of the race leaders with various 5k participants scattered throughout.  At that point, I was no longer competing against anyone, I was competing against the wind.  Battling along, it became harder and harder.  As I was about 300 meters from the crest of the bridge, I seriously contemplated walking.  "It might be faster at this point," I thought to myself.  If anyone passed me, "good for them, more power to them".  Pondering the stop, I couldn't do it.  "I'm a runner, I might be struggling, but I can't give up."  My internal battle at least helped me make it to the crest of the bridge.  Finally, downhill!  Unfortunately, with the fierce winds, running downhill felt like running uphill.  My 5 mile split: 6:57.  No surprise.  I knew the final mile would be really tough.  I thought of Seth's scouting report, save something for the last half mile, it's completely uphill.  With the wind, uphill, and enough suffering for one day, I just wanted to finish.  I already wasn't feeling that great and my time was out the window.  I crossed the finish line in 38:40 and in 4th place. 

Afterwards
I quickly guzzled a water down and then jogged back towards the finish line to see Shara.  I didn't know exactly where Shara was in the race but expected a strong finish from her.  After a very brief wait, Shara came through in a time of 42:25.  She placed as the 1st place women and 9th overall. Very impressive.  Shortly after finishing, she told me she almost PRd!  Wow.  Great race.

Pros: Shara's race, I like the 10k distance, I ran over a bridge, and my knee didn't hurt
Cons: 40+ mph wind gusts, slow time, I felt slow.