The Fort Bragg Army 10-Miler...My Rebound Race…

…Or the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

(Yeah this Blog is really late...)

As I mentioned in my previous Blog I signed up for the Fort Bragg Army Birthday 10-Miler before I even ran the New River Marathon. I knew I would need some kind of goal to keep me running whether my Boston Qualification attempt was successful or not.

I had good intentions to train for this race so I could PR and also in hopes of making the Fort Bragg women’s team. However, it’s not clear that this is how they select their team. But I’ve completely lost interest anyway.

I really did have good intentions to train for this race. In fact, I even made a training program, and set a lofty goal.

In 2008 I ran the Army 10-miler in DC in 79 minutes. I thought since I was coming off the marathon, and if I implemented a program that included the right kind of speed work, I could knock out 75 minutes with moderate effort.

But as I say in the heading, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry and in short, I didn’t train for this race at all. And I totally didn’t want to run it. The ONLY reason I ran this race was because I registered. A few months ago, I skipped a race I registered for and it really bothered me. Especially, since the reasons not to run my race really weren’t mine. So, I promised myself barring illness or injury I wouldn’t DNF another race. Even though I didn’t train at all I was going through another massive transition in my life, I showed up at the start line anyway.

The Race Itself…

…Or Whatever….

Even in the midst of all the runners, I was completely disinterested. Several people from work were also running this race, but I had trouble catching their motivation, or even their jitters.

“Whatever,” I thought as I walked to the start line, completely out of habit I wiggled my way up to the 8 minute per mile pace line, figuring there would be no way I could possibly run that fast. I didn’t even care.

I think Bragg fired a cannon or something to start the race, I don’t remember, I just started running when everyone else did.

This was a no headphones race, and because I was near to the front of the pack, it was crowded, and I was having trouble focusing. One of the things I enjoy most about running is the solitude, and this congested start was annoying me a little. Thankfully, it didn’t take long for it to thin out and had some space for myself to run. I guess deployments took a toll on this race, because it was not as crowded as when I ran it in the past.
Fort Bragg hosts a pretty good race. Everything is so organized! Water stations were great, and there were plenty of volunteers.

I just kept putting one foot in front of the other, and tried to stay on the 75-minute goal pace. I was really suprised to see so many female runners in race-mode! It was fantastic actually to be around so many other women who had goals! What was unfortunate was the stupid guys that were hitting on us, mid-race! Seriously, men, I'm running 7:30 minutes per mile...I do not have time to chat to you or listen to your comments about my body...and now, I think you are a loser for bothering me while I'm running.

Like most Army installations, Fort Bragg names it's housing areas and streets after famous battlefields and and military heros. It was weird to run past signs like Normandy, Cherbourg, St. Mere Eglise and Bastogne, knowing that I've actually run in those places in Europe. It was amazing to think that I have this in common with veteran Soldiers, although the circumstances are profoundly different. In many areas of post running cadences are piped over the loud speaker. This made the run kind of fun, especially since I didn't have my own music.

I was happy to hit the half-way point in good time and was ready to be done running around mile 7. I still didn't feel very interested in the race, and was trying to maintain focus on my pace. Runners, especially males,  started getting competitive around Mile 8 and they began to pass me. I decided to up the ante a bit. I implemented some pace surge techniques I read about in Runner's World magazine and surged out of some corners and randomly increased my pace, to my surprise, these methods actually worked and I picked off a few runners ahead of me.

With a few small successes in my pocket around mile 9 I started to feel slightly interested in the race. I linked up with another and I cruised across the finish line in 78:09. This is a PR for me!

What was a little sad, was that I know my marathon split at 10 miles was faster than that, and I totally felt like I could pushed it out faster.

I guess the real victory in this situation is that I got back on the running horse. I seriously did not want to run this race, so much was going on in my life, and I almost sacked it. But, I tried to remember that running is apart of me and that through everything it's the constant in my life. No matter where I am or what I am doing, running is the same. It's my own space, my own time, when I'm just out there letting my thoughts go. It's a part of my day like eating, and it's where I do my best thinking and get in touch with the my strengths that are not so readily available. Running always helps me to discover that I am so much more than what is usually apparent. The PR is pretty great too!

My Future in Running...

...Or I need a friggin' plan....

I need to get some focus. I've not been running consistently at all and have been relying on Army PT for my general fitness. Any of my Army friends reading this, must know that this is not a good plan. I've not been inside a gym since moving back to the U.S. and I've got no focus, other than the upcoming 10k, for my running. I need to find a routine and get back into the swing of things soon, or just give it up altogether. Either way, I'm at a cross roads, and I need to sort it out soon.

In Summation: Recovering from Failure on Several Fronts=Sucks; PRs Without Trying Very Hard=Rock! What's Next?=Not Sure Yet; Boston Marathon=In my future?; NC Heat=Oppressive; My Friends=The Best Ever!; Faith in Mankind=A Raisin in the Sun
Upcoming Races...
July Races:
Ellwood City Ledger 10k...A Virtual Sprint!!