Notes
Well,
I did what I came to do, and that is figure out how long I can hold a pace I would have to run for 10k to qualify as an elite for Grandma's half. And the answer is about 3.3 miles.
First three splits were 5:52, 5:55, 6:01, and then things went downhill, and fairly quickly.
I would have to run 36:30 to qualify as an elite for Grandmas, which works out to about 5:55 miles. I know I'm not capable of that right, but I needed a 10k to test where my fitness is. Essentially, I needed a test to see if it is worth trying to find another 10k in about a month to try qualifying again. However, I think what I learned today is I'm not ready for that right now, and that's fine. I am very excited about my fitness for shorter races right now, and PR's in the 1500 and 5k are what I want my track season to hold anyway. I think today was helpful because it gave me a little bit of closure regarding Grandma's. I didn't think it was a great fit anyway, but I would love to run it someday, so I've been hanging onto that possibility for a while. But now I know its not in the cards, and I know I gave it a shot and didn't just talk myself out of it. And I can now focus all my physical and mental energy on the races I'm more excited about. Another half in the fall? Perhaps. We'll see.
As far as the race today:
Ran all alone the entire time, and some wind and some rain. I think in the right conditions and running a much more enjoyable negative-splitting kind of race, I could run about 38 flat, ish. So I think I'm fitter than what I showed today, but definitely not as fit as i would have to be.
So that's that.
However, nothing like a smaller, hometown 5k to make you feel good about yourself. I was the first female by about 5 min, hah. And brought home a nice trophy! A very fun morning, and I'm very glad I did it.
Very VERY Much looking forward to racing the TC 1 mile next Thursday, and to a 1500 and/or a 5k at La Crosse! Yippee!!!