Cary Road Race 10K Race Report

When I first moved to Cary two years ago, I was trying to get my runner's legs back, and my shape, since I had gained about 30 pounds at my stressful NYC job, so I decided I'd ease back in with a 5K. Just about two months into living here came the Cary Road Race. They have a 5K and a 10K. There was no way I was ready for a 10K, but a 5K was doable. I finished that race in 30:31 for a 9:49 pace. Nothing ground breaking, but ok considering my shape at the time.

I missed this race last year, but I decided to do the 10K this year, especially since SAS sponsors employees for it. That means they pay $10, so it only cost me $8. Can beat that for a 10K. I forgot the course, but basically, the 10K is the 5K twice. It's a pretty nice course. It starts at the Kokobooth Amphitheater. You run up onto a road lined with large businesses and communities. It's actually a fairly nice tree lined street. This is, however, where the one major challenging hill is. It's not killer, but very solid.

Prior to race, I was worried that I wasn't going to be able to run. I did something to my right hamstring on Thursday's run. It didn't bother much on Thursday, but by Friday, my hamstring was very tight and sore. It didn't feel like a pull, but then again, I've never pulled a hamstring, so it may very well have been a pull. It just felt like it was really tight. I decided to go and see if I can warm up and loosen it up. If not, then I would not run. I tried some light jogging in the parking lot, followed by stretching. I did this a few times. At first it hurt to extend my leg, but as I stretched, I started feeling much better. By the start of the race, I felt great and decided to stay. The pre-race crowd observations were fun. Usually for anything more than a 5K you see mostly runners. This crowd was still mixed. You had the serious runners and the "I run, but I'm not going to win" runners. But strangely, you had the "I'm in shape, so I'm going to run, but look at me with all my make up and matching clothes" kind of people. Not the mention the "I'm big an muscular and fit, so I can run even though I've never run" kind of people. I usually only note seeing them at 5Ks, but here they are.

Anyway, the race starts pretty flat for a bit along side of the amphitheatre parking lot. It's pretty uneventful until about the .5 mile mark when you hit the pseudo-big hill. I had forgotten about it, so I hit it in stride and handled it pretty well. After the hill, you get a stretch of light rolling to the turnaround point, and the light rolling back to the hill, which is of course now a nice downhill until you get to the lake. The course then turns onto the trail that goes around the lake and behind the amphitheater. This is probably a little more than a mile stretch. It's fairly flat around the lake and it's really pretty. Once off the lake trail, you head back toward the starting line and a turnaround to repeat the course again. The only problem with this is that now I'm thinking about the hill. Again, it wasn't killer, but definitely tough. I unfortunately let it get me mentally, and I took a walking break about half way up the hill. I only stopped for about 30 seconds and started up again. Once I got up the hill, I knew I was in the clear. I was feeling good to the turn around and back down the hill. The lake trail was surprising hard the second time around. It felt flatter the first time, but now I'm thinking it might have been a false flat. I was passed the 5 mile mark now and starting to feel tired, but I kept pushing. The race finishes back toward the start line, but then turns into the parking lot and then turns onto a trail that finishes just inside the amphitheatre grounds. I was running out of steam at this point, but I pushed as hard as I could to get to the finish strong.

My official time was 59:51 (9:37 pace,) which wasn't great, but considering how my year started with my heart stuff, I'd have to say, I'm pretty satisfied. I didn't go in with a goal, but I'd say a 9:37 pace would have been a pretty good one.

The best part of this race, though, is that my favorite bread place, Great Harvest, is a sponsor and has a table. I grabbed a piece of their cinnimon bread with some honey. That was definitely the best part ;)