Rodes City Run 10K Report

Saturday was the Rodes City Run 10K, the second leg in Louisville's annual triple crown of running.  I had wrestled with the idea of chasing a PR, but with a marathon looming and of course Ironman CDA in June, I wasn't sure if I should go for it.  After consulting my PR spreadsheet, I was going to need about an 8:40/mile pace to have a secure shot at a PR.  Since this wasn't much faster than I've been running over shorter distances anyway and a pretty flat course, I decided to go for it.  I figured the worst that would happen is I wasn't feeling it, and I could take it easy if need be.

The weather was nearly perfect, about 40F or so with hardly any wind.  I paired up with my pal Scott, I set my Garmin to my goal pace, and off we went. 

(From the event, a double shirt and a little breeze made me look like a total fatty haha)

The first mile was flat or even slightly downhill, and we knocked it out in 8:25.  A little fast but felt good.  Mile 2 is slightly uphill and we were still cruising:  another 8:25.  Scott said it's the fastest he'd ever run that little uphill section.  Mile 3 had the last and the biggest of the hills, but even faster, 8:09!

As Scott said, we know we had plenty of time "banked" so it was just a matter of holding a good pace until the end.  Miles 4-6 were 8:20, 8:07, and 7:50.  We were flying.  Now it was just hanging on for the last stretch, knowing we had a PR secured.  Off we went!  We ran the last .2 at a 7:19 pace. 

Final tally was a 51:19 (8:11 pace), a PR by nearly 3 minutes.  I'd always assumed that Scott was faster but it was a PR for him as well.  What a great day.  We finished up by running the course backwards in order to get our long run finished for the week.  Took that 6 miles nice and easy.

In addition to the 10K, I'm still keeping up with my Ironman training.  Long rides are about 3 hours, long swims about 2500 meters, and of course the long runs are part of marathon training.

I can't end this post without a charity plug.  My donations have essentially ceased, what's the deal? I'm not asking for millions here! Please give.  ANY amount will do, and I mean ANY!

I’m competing in 2014 as a “Blazeman Warrior.” In 2005, Jon "The Blazeman" Blais raced the big Ironman, in Hawaii, and completed it even while suffering from ALS/Lou Gehrig’s Disease. His family started the Blazeman Foundation for ALS. I’m raising money for them and in honor of Jon, I plan on rolling across the finish line in Coeur d’Alene just as Jon did when he finished. A famous quote from Jon is, "Even if I have to be rolled across the finish line, I'm finishing," so you often see Blazeman Warriors rolling across Ironman finish lines.

I also lost an Aunt to ALS so this charity is very personal to me. Any help would be appreciated.

An Ironman is 140.6 miles so even if you donated just 10 cents per mile, that would be $14.06. You can donate at the following link:

http://www.active.com/donate/teamblazeman/blazemanJJohnso