This is probably a unpopular opinion, but I love the 10K distance. I think it goes back to my mid-distance days of being an 800 runner for track in high school and it being my best distance. And now as endurance road runner, the 10K feels like a mid-distance event to me. Ha! In my opinion, the 10K feels like the perfect distance to run fast (but not too fast like the 5K) and not for too long either. Ha! I know I'm probably in the minority.
The Get in Gear 10K is a popular race with a lot of competition because it is part of the race circuit in Minnesota. I knew this going into the race as I ran the 5K at this event back in 2017 and remember seeing the results from the 10K. (Side note: I won the 5K that year for the women after traveling to Minnesota from Alaska all night, so that should tell you it wasn't a super competitive race.)
I was really optimistic initially going into this race as I was having some good workouts, but then the Tuesday before this race, I did a workout, and it felt WAY harder than it should have. I immediately thought, "Am I pregnant?" I continued to feel fine that week on easy runs, but I could not figure out why I bombed the workout. I figured I could have been pregnant, but I also wasn't having any other symptoms. Anyway, the day before the race, the light bulb went off, and I remembered I had been eating vegan for the past 7 weeks, and I knew that's why I was feeling so flat with my running. I've had this happen to me in the past, so I knew it was the vegan diet.
After realizing this, my goals going into the race changed quite a bit. Initially had hoped to run a pace around 6:25--or better, in hopes of breaking 40 minutes, but instead, I knew I was just going to have to see what the day brought and be okay with whatever my body could run that day. I ended up running one second faster than the Hot Dash 10K I did a month prior.
At the start of the race, I started off feeling strong, but by mile 2.5-3 I noticed my pace slowing. I did my best to keep pushing hard, but I really struggled through the second half. The last mile was across a bridge, straight into the wind, and my really labored breathing kicked so I was just ready to be done at this point.
Garmin Splits
Mile 1 - 6:21 min/mi
Mile 2 - 6:24
Mile 3 - 6:33
Mile 4- 6:43
Mile 5 - 6:35
Mile 6 - 6:44
Garmin time - 41:02
So while this wasn't a great race for me, it was fun to see friends, the weather was great, and I got to run my favorite distance. I am already planning on running another 10K this fall to get some redemption.
After this race, I went back in my logbook from two years ago and saw that it took me about three weeks to feel better once I stopped eating vegan. But then it was just a couple weeks after that that I set my current 10K PR of 38:25 (6:11 min/mi pace). I know my fitness will return now that I am no longer eating vegan, so I'm optimistic I will start to feel better soon.
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