Saugatuck Town Crier 10K Race Report

Pictured Above: Josh pre-race

Pictured Above: Gwen pre-race

Well folks, it's over.  In the books.  Finished.  Today's Saugatuck Town Crier 10K was the first time that I have run since the Martian Marathon and I have to say that I am pretty satisfied with my performance.  I ran a 00:50:49, which is a 8:12 pace, and was good enough to put me dead last in the M25-29 division and 77/160 overall.  Normally I would be a little distraught by the fact that I ended up so far in the back but I feel like I kind of have a trump card over everyone in that I ran a marathon less than a week a go.  So there.  Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

The race was well represented by two groups near and dear to my heart.  The Satya Yoga Center had a good turnout with impressive performances by all (Gwen, Mary-Lynn, Veronica, Tony, and Michele all repped).  Mary-Lynn pulled down a "W" with a 2nd place finish in her age group.  Gwen did an awesome job considering this was her first time running in a really long time due to school.  She was a little disappointed with her finish time but she did me proud... 60 hours+ a week for nursing school and she's still out there busting her butt (not to mention that in terms of distance this was a "first" for her).  The second group that was represented was Jade/Whisper Cycles.  Matt Smith pulled down a solid 2nd place finish overall in both the 10K AND 5K.  I talked to him for a little bit before the 5K (following the 10K) and he was telling me that a group of guys he was with had actually ridden their bikes TO THE RACE and yet, he was able to put out a super solid performance (I should note that for road races Matt is sponsored by Striders running store... google them, they are great!).

The weather out this morning was decent.  When we stepped out of the car this morning I looked at the thermostat and it read 34 degrees.  I don't think it actually stayed that cold but it was pretty chilly.  I didn't pre-plan very well so ended up running in shorts (wish I had worn tights) and didn't have gloves.  Needless to say my fingers were numb at about mile 2.  The mileage definitely took a toll on my body today and I was sore when Gwen and I got home.  My left knee especially was bothering me and I think that this week I'm going to have to keep a close eye on this to make sure I don't do any actual damage.  That being said, I didn't really have any aches and pains beyond the normal stuff while I was running.  The course was really nice.  The start and finish were in downtown Saugatuck and the course brought you along the river into the hills, woods, and neighborhoods of Saugatuck.  Very cool.  This is definitely a run that I'll be doing on my own this summer and I encourage anyone local to give it a try.

Following the race I went out for a ride with Jim and Jeff.  I figured that a nice recovery ride/spin was in need of and we had a great ride.  It was pretty windy out today and that definitely affected me however I was pretty satisfied with the ride overall.  Jeff/Jim both worked with me on group ride etiquette/technique and despite the fact that I almost took Jim down a couple of times I think things went well.  Final ride readout from my bike computer was: distance 38 miles, 17.7 MPH avg. speed, top speed of 26.1 MPH, avg. cadence of 88.  Almost 40 miles... you ask me this is the best way to recover!

This week will be a good week for me to jump back into my regular training.  It is a "smaller" week with a couple of "testing" days.  I'll keep everyone posted.

Alright, Gwen and I are getting ready to go hang out with Nick who is back in town for the weekend!  Everyone have a good Easter!