DFL at the Vet's Day 10K

I ran the Dilworth VFW Vet's Day 10K today and I was dead F'ing Last!  It was still a great race.  I lowered my PR by 36 seconds and broke my goal by 3 seconds.  Ran the plan with negative splits and felt like I was flying the last 2/3 of a mile to the finish.  New mantra is "Easy" as in "run smoooooooth, run easy"  Beats "run hard / finish strong" into the dust.  Didn't let myself think about each running segment (used 7run, 1 walk Galloway) being just a bit faster because I was running light and easy and my legs weren't pounding the ground.

Race time was 38* and lightly misting.  Road was wet and there were a few puddles to dodge.  Race was small and had a 10K Run and 5K Run/walk.  At the first mile, anyone my speed or slower turned when the 5k and 10K split.  I ran the second mile alone, and by that point, I was about two blocks behind the two closest runners.  But I had kept it in for two miles and I was ready to start reeling them in.  I spent almost the entire race pacing myself and just focusing on staying on the winding route with many turns.  Dilworth is a small town and they had to try to fit a 6.2mile route in somehow.  There were multiple places where we came back to the same intersection, but turned different directions so we never really crossed paths.

Last 2/3 of a mile I stopped looking at my watch, lost myself in running easy, and trying to close the gap with the two runners in front.  I had closed to about a block at the beginning of the last segment, and closed it to about 1/2 a block at the finish.  My goal was under 1:11 and I finished at 1:10:57.  That compares to the 1:11:33 I ran last month in SW Fargo at the FM Mini.

I wore my CW-X tights, my old Saucony Triumph 9 Trainers (because of wet) and two fairly thin LS shirts.  I also had a thin skull cap hat and thin gloves.  I was thankful for the hat early when we turned into a 16mph wind, but I had it off for most of the race.  I felt much better than last week and did not overheat.  Both shirts were soaked at the end with help from the drizzle.  But the 38* meant there was no ice and once I got a dry shirt and dry sox, I felt pretty good.

First 5mile race next week so I should have two PR's in a row!!!

Keep running and keep smiling!