Race Recap: Mercer Island 10K

On Sunday, March 20 I ran the Mercer Island 10K with a member of Team Flying V, Stacey!  The original plan was to run the half marathon but life got in the way and we opted to run something we knew we could finish and be proud of.  I was unsure how I would feel race morning due to eating fish and chips and a couple beers the day prior (oops!), but I fit in a good breakfast and felt energized by the 8:30 start time. 

Charging up my Garmin and Ipod pre-race and watching my NCAA bracket, which by the way I'm out of thanks to Notre Dame's less than stellar performance yesterday

It was a PERFECT almost Spring morning in Seattle, sunny skies in the upper 40's and lower 50's by race time.  The course was hilly and hard but provided just enough of a challenge to keep pushing forward.  The beginning was a little congested and being on a semi-muddy trail didn't help much.  But after mile 1 everyone spread out on the street and passing people was easy.  Each hill was long enough to provide a good cardio boost but not drain all my energy and the downhills waiting on the other side were the perfect way to get my heart rate back down to normal to keep going.

Pre-race!

Thanks to my awesome Garmin watch (I should have put that on my favorite things list!) I got a mile by mile breakdown:

Mile 1 - 10:11 <---warming up and being herded like cats on a muddy trail
Mile 2 - 9:19
Mile 3 - 9:09
Mile 4 - 9:12
Mile 5 - 9:12
Mile 6 - 8:42 <---WHOA...someone wanted to finish the race pronto!

Overall time - 57:36 <--- New Personal Record (PR)....yeah!

More importantly, this race kicked off my 2011 running season.  Next up, Kirkland Half Marathon on May 8 with Katie, Kelly (Katie's sister) and Paula (Katie's mom).  Since it's mothers day weekend I'm trying to talk my mother into coming to Seattle and walking the 5K.

This is how Stacey spent her Sunday!

Runners: What race are you most looking forward to this year?  I would say the marathon is mine but that isn't really true.  I am looking forward to running the Seattle Rock and Roll since Team Flying V will be reunited for the race and I miss my flying V formation!

UPDATE: This just in...I finally have a racing photo where I don't look like I'm about to pass out and die!  I'll have to gather some of my deathly photos at another time but in the meantime enjoy this one taken right before the end of the race, on a hill!

Totally stole this from the photographer website...don't tell!