Race Report

Monte Sano 10k

Time: 57:40
Distance: 6.2 miles

Details: chocolate powerbar prior, 70 degrees, 88% humidity; state park on top of a mountain.

Reflections: Monte Sano, Spanish for “Mountain of Health,” in Huntsville, Alabama was the location of this race. Course was 2 loops in the park; most of it on a paved road which was surprising. only a small portion was on part of a trail which was loose gravel. (i dislike running on loose gravel...i feel like i’m not moving fast enough...anyone else experience this feeling?)
course was rolling and i started out too fast even though i tried to tell myself not too. first 2 miles were 8:30 pace and i was already suffering from the humidity. it baffles me to no end how folks can go out and run 5-6 minute miles in this type of weather. WOW. WOW. WOW.
Being in the park was neat because since we were high up, there were areas where there was an incredible view of some surrounding mountains. it was gorgeous and very peaceful. i don’t think i have ever run a 2 loop course before and i found it kinda boring and very surprising considering how big the park was. oh well, i am sure they had their reasons. mentally, i felt like i had a ping pong game going on inside my head....i knew i wanted to use this as a training run and therefore did not need to go fast, but i also didn’t want anyone to pass me and i wanted to pass people...so i kept going back and forth in my head about how fast/slow to go...i think some of this mental banter took out some of the fun for me. i was not as relaxed as i had wanted to be.

other than that, i am still glad i did the race. got a good 6 miles in and it was cheap...only $15/race day registration. i got a tank top and afterwards they had all sorts of goodies to eat; bananas, pastries, watermelon, pizza. Huntsville is much more beautiful than i would have imagined. it is more like a valley, surrounded by mountains. quiet and beautiful.