First Race of the Year

This past Sunday I ran in my first race of the year. It was the Great Plains 10K put on by the KC Running company. I was pleasantly surprised to find out at packet pickup that there would be a very small field of between 150 and 180 runners. The race started and ended at Gray's Lake and the race director described it as a lollipop course (an out and back with a loop at the end). The course was extremely flat and ran up one side of the Des Moines River and back the other side before crossing the river again and heading back the same path we went out on.

I got to the start line plenty early and did something that I never before envisioned doing, I ran 3/4 of a mile to warm up. I didn't really set a solid goal, but was hoping to average under 10:30 min/mi. My first mile was 10:24 and I was happy that I didn't go out to strong. Each mile after that was a little faster then the previous. I finished in 1:04:06 which is around a 10:20 min/mi average.

This race did a lot to boost my confidence as a runner. For the first time I was the one passing other runners late in the race instead of losing steam myself. I finished in front of a lot of decent runners, many who looked more like runners then I do. It just goes to show how hard work and dedication can pay off. It was a great start to the season and I look forward to the rest that the year has to offer. Next up is the Dam to Dam half marathon on the first Saturday of June.