O'Shaughnessy Matthew 25 10k Race Recap

Today I ran my 3rd 10k - the Dr. Philip O'Shaughnessy Matthew 25 10k.  This race (as well as the 5k, run the same day) benefits the local Matthew 25 clinic that provides health and dental care for those less fortunate in our community.  This race is run in Foster Park along the Rivergreenway.  I was unfamiliar with the course ahead of time, but was quite pleased to find it mostly flat minus a few small hills, most of the "inclines" were at the beginning of the race which was nice.  The course had an out and back section which allowed them to provide 4 water stations.  I actually only took advantage of one of these as I was using a handheld and fighting stomach issues, but it was nice to have so many along the way.  Several people complained that the course was boring, but I didn't mind it all.  The smell was a challenge for me though, as I am not used to running along a river.

The only "race swag" was a t-shirt and trophies for age group and overall winners, but this is fairly typical for shorter distance races.  However, there was a nice post race spread:  water, gatorade, bananas, apples, granola bars, instant oatmeal bars, and rice krispies!

I wasn't sure what to expect of this race, I really have been struggling with running much more than 3-4 miles at a time.  I really wanted to break 55:00 (my last race was 56:33), but didn't feel prepared to do that. However, thankfully, the weather was VERY pleasant this morning... actually a bit chilly at the start!  That's not to say I didn't heat up quickly when I started running, but I didn't overheat like I did in May at the Frontier 10k.   (I just realized I failed to recap that race - whoops!)  This recap needs to be done soon so I can head to bed - gotta be up before the sun tomorrow to go visit family, so I am going to do bullet points!

• Started out mid-pack and tried to run easy, kept reminding myself outloud to run my own race.  
• Ran without music - seems to help me focus on running and breathing (remember for future races!)
• I groaned out loud as I came across several small hills at the beginning of the course, I was scared there would be more hills along the way, but that was it
• The first few miles were pretty uneventful, save trying to "reign" my pace in and not go too fast
• It felt like forever before the fast people started coming back in, in reality, it was less than 3 miles! ha!
• At one point, there was a VERY big branch across the path, it was partially broken but you could only go through single file, so I had to "time" myself right so I wouldn't have to stop for the speedy people who were going the other way
• I was SO thankful to see the turn around point.  I made a deal with myself that I would not stop running until mile 5
• I checked my splits at every mile I was consistently well below 9 minute miles for the first 3 miles... I was banking time to walk later in the race (I always bonk)
• I struggled with mile 4, but couldn't do math in my head so I decided I couldn't risk walking because I would be so angry if I missed my goal due to walking just because I was "tired"
• Mile 5 wasn't any easier, I got passed by several people but I kept putting one foot in front of another
• I figured mile 6 would be my slowest, but at some point I found someone who was going a decent pace that I used as bait to keep myself moving forward.  I stayed just behind him and refused to drop back, I ran a much faster pace because of it!  So "thank you" to that guy - you helped me more than you know!
• The "home stretch."  There was a NICE steep downhill and then I saw the finish line and I pushed it the best I could, turns out I had more left than I thought I did. I love that I can kick to the finish even when I am beat!  I tried really hard to get ahead of my pace buddy, but he ended up finishing just before me - however, our official times are exactly the same.
• Victorious - a NEW PR by 4:11.8 AND I RAN EVERY STEP OF THE WAY

Mile 1: 8:22

Mile 2: 8:22

Mile 3: 8:33

Mile 4: 8:39

Mile 5: 8:50

Mile 6: 8:32

Last .2: 1:04 (6:39 pace)

Official time: 52:22

Age Group: 2 of 6

Overall: 89 of 163

Average Pace: 8:26

I would definitely do this race again, and recommend it to anyone in the local area.  There aren't very many 10k races available and of the two I have done locally, this was my favorite by far.  Far less turns and I LOVED the shaded greenway over the city streets!