State Farm 10 Mile / Lincoln NE March 27, 2010

The outdoor running / racing season has begun (at least for me!) here in Nebraska!  Today we traveled down to Lincoln to run the 12th Annual State Farm 1M/5K/10M.  I have to admit, the weather wasn’t all that great.  It rained for most of the morning before the race and the conditions on the trail were very sloppy and wet.  My shoes were destroyed!

They announced that they had 1900 runners this year.  I think only 1500 showed due to the rain.  It was still a very well run race. Nice Job guys!

10 miles is kind of an odd distance.  It’s usually 10K (6.2 miles) or 13.1 miles (a half marathon).  This was the first time I ran this event.  It was good to see some Gallup folks (Dave and Jody, Bill J and thanks Andy G for some of the pictures here) and a few folks we see at every racing event.   Also thanks to Sara, Michelle and Bob for carpooling with me!  You guys are always a big encouragement.

I ran the first 5 miles in about 41 minutes (a personal best that would have put me on pace for a sub 50 minute 10K) but things began to drag around mile 7.  I have to learn to go out a bit slower!  It felt so good today.  Ran the last half in 43 (still not too bad) and finished unofficially at [1:24].  Still a great time and I think another modern era personal best.

Groundhog Day 10K / January 31, 2010 – Kansas City MO

This one kind of slipped by me but in the bitter cold of late January, we slipped  down to KC for an indoor 10K that was run completely inside a cave!  It’s a massive storage facility that has been dug into the limestone rock of northern Kansas City.  Very interesting event.

Final results had me at [50:39] ([8:10] pace and a modern era 10K PR!)  It was a very fast course since it is completely inside, flat and no wind to deal with.  Again, Sara and Michelle drove down with me and provided running support.  I have included a few pictures below.

Remember, I search (and run) so you don’t have to!