Thursday, November 26, 2009

Berbee Derby 2009 Report

Thursday, November 26, 2009
Fitchburg, WI


Yesterday I ran the 10K at the Berbee Derby in Fitchburg, WI. Their slogan is - "Like a Thanksgiving Day Parade, Only Faster." Cute. There's also a 5K run/walk. This race is good size - draws about 4,000 people. The 5K is a little out and back on residential streets, but the 10K takes you on the Capital City Trail, which is always very pretty. I love this race and have been looking forward to it for a while. (Plus you get local chocolate in your race packet...not like anyone needs the extra calories on Thanksgiving, but it's always delicious!)

This was the first race that I've done twice now and the only 10K race I've ever done. Unfortunately I've never really gotten to race this one (and thus have never really raced a 10K, which I would really like to do), because I've always run it with one of my friends. He insists on running at my pace, even though he's much faster than me. And he's a talker. I love the guy, but he doesn't shut up! I don't talk well when I run, so he would ramble on for a while and I would say, "Yeah, uh huh" a lot (and repeat.) So I don't get to push as hard as I should when I run with him.

After a long stretch of warm November temperatures, we got some snow Wednesday night and Thursday morning was pretty chilly. I debated between wearing shorts and pants, but finally settled on the pants (first time since last winter) and was glad that I did. My parents live about a half a mile away from the start of the race, so I drove to their house and then my dad dropped me off about 5 minutes before the gun went off and then I ran home when I was done. It worked out perfectly.

So anyway, onto the race! National anthem gets sung, the horn goes off and it takes a minute or two to get to the starting line.

Mile 1 - 10:13. Crowd support is sporadic, but not bad for the first mile or so since we're running through a neighborhood. Weaving through people, so we're slower than I'd like to be. Couple of hills, nothing bad. Pass a man who is breathing super heavily already. Sorry dude, you're going to have tough 5 more miles. We hear the 5K horn go off (they start after us) and I pray that we make it to the 5K turn around before the lead runners catch up to us like last year. (Talk about demoralizing.)

Mile 2 - 10:05. We've picked up the pace a little, feeling strong. Leave the residential neighborhood and head onto a country road with a long gradual hill. We made it to the 10K splitoff before the 5K leaders catch up. High five!

Mile 3 - 9:56. Alright, I wanted to run all sub 10 minute miles, so we're on track now. Going down a long gradual hill. Pass through the 5K timing mat just over 31:00.

Mile 4 - 10:11. Too slow. Too much talking with my friend. On the bike path now and it's hillier than I remember it being last year. Up and down we go.

Mile 5 - 10:05. Bah. Still too slow, but we're passing people left and right.

Mile 6 - 10:01. What goes down, must come up. We climb uphill toward the finish. And uphill some more. I run into the same co-worker that I ran into at the Madison Mini Marathon. Chat for a minute and then pass her.

Last .2 - 8:03 pace. And it's all downhill to the finish for the last .2. I pick up the pace and sprint past dozens of 5K walkers. I'm pretty spent, but I know that I could have run faster.

Official time: 1:02:36. Pace = 10:03 minutes/mile. Missed my "goal" of running sub-10 mm by a very small margin, but oh well. Last year I ran this race in 1:06:20, so it's still a huge PR even though I didn't push it as hard as I could have.

I think I need to look for a flat 10K in the area, because I really, really want to get a sub-60. I know it's in the cards, it's just a matter of doing it!