Volksläufe 10K
after enjoying a great fireworks display with my family the night before, i lined up at the start with my brother in-law to my left and my dad somewhere in the masses behind us. simply standing there while waiting for the race to start was causing me to sweat as it was already in the upper seventies with high humidity.
we were sent on our way and i kept myself in check with a 6:20 opening mile. the route turned into the countryside and a bit of a headwind. much of the second mile was downhill and i was able to roll a 6:11 on it; passing a few folks who had started too fast.
as we continued through the rural outskirts of Frankenmuth (Michigan), my pace began to slow a bit. honestly, i was feeling “flat” and had very little pep in the step; likely due in large part to the high humidity.
shortly after the five kilometer mark, we began an uphill climb that led us back into town. my focus through this section was on reeling in a few runners who were fading faster than i was.
we crossed the main street in town and made our way over the wooden covered bridge then up one final uphill section. a left turn onto the parkway gave a welcomed long downhill to the finish.
as i approached the finish, i could see the clock had already rolled past forty minutes which was disappointing. regardless, i picked up the pace a bit and finished in 40:38 which was a few ticks faster than my 2011 and 2010 efforts on the same course.
after a slow walk with a cold bottle of water, i was able to locate my brother in-law and we made our way to the park entrance to watch for my dad. sporting a hansons running jersey, he rolled into the finish with a smile and a wave.
a quick check of the results told me that i had mustered a third place finish in the M35-39 age group. after getting cleaned up back at the hotel, we returned for the awards ceremony and i picked up my second Volksläufe stein.
wtf is up with the goofy grin, eh?
Splits
1M – 6:20
2M – 6:11 (12:31)
3M – 6:32 (19:03)
4M – 6:37 (25:40)
5M – 6:48 (32:28)
6M – 6:44 (39:12)
.2M – 1:26 (40:38)
40th/748 finishers overall
3rd/40 finishers M35-39
Recent Training
7/1 – 6 miles
7/2 – 6 miles
7/3 – off
7/4 – 10K in 40:38
7/5 – 5 miles
7/6 – 5 miles
MTD – 28.25 miles (5/6 days)
YTD – 1145 miles (164/188 days)
Odometer – 33,870 miles