I was nervous going into the 2010 Papa John's 10-Miler this year. Recently nursing an inflamed IT Band has forced me to back off of training. This past week only consisted on two runs of 5.5 and 6.5 miles. Both were intended to go longer; however, left knee pain cut them short. Some really intense hot yoga at Betsy's Hot Yoga in St. Matthews can be attributed to my recovery.
Back to the race. I was so nervous last night, sleep didn't come easy. I told myself to take it easy and walk it out if I felt any pain. Thomas Hines and I started the race at about an 8:00 minute pace and maintained it throughout the first five miles. I felt a little irritation in the left knee. I knew the staying in the middle of the road (the most level surface) and short strides on downhills would help me out - and it did. For some reason, Iroquois Park felt easier than normal. The pace sped up a little to 7:45 over the last five miles. As much as I tried to push it, Thomas lived true to his role as a great running partner and told me to keep it slow - all the way through the finish. Thanks to Thomas, I completed this race at a comfortable pace without further injuring my knee. Our finish time was 1:18:48 - eight minutes slower than 2009.
TIP: If you need to regulate a certain pace, run with a partner that will be stern with you. Risking further injury is not worth it. If you are willing to take a chance, slow down and take it easy. Pushing too hard will cause an even worse injury that will keep you off the road. Another way to stay at a target pace is to run with a Nike+ or a Garmin.
HAPPY RUNNING!
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