2013 BeeBumble 10k: Race Report

This has quickly become one of my favorite races of the year and I am not alone because there was a record 575 participants across the different events this year. I like the small town atmosphere, I like the course that is an out and back on a country road, and the timing makes it a perfect tune up race for the fall season. After my performance here the last two years I am also really beginning to appreciate it for the confidence booster it is and it's ability to add a breath of fresh air to the end of the training cycle for the 2013 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon.

For this race I added an early morning shake out run to get my body primed for running. This was just a short and easy 20 minute run very first thing out of bed. Nearly all of my running is first thing in the morning but I've never done it as a shakeout for a race. I liked it and think I'll keep it. The last 5k I ran I didn't do a warm up and I learned my lesson because it cost me a very slow first mile. So once we got to Burnettsville and got our packets collected I headed out for short easy warm up and finished up with 5 x 20 second strides to get my legs, heart and lungs ready to run hard. I finished the warm up with about 10 minuets to spare, hit the restroom and lined up.

Last year I was engaged in an epic, all out, man to man, head to head race to the finish line. You can read the details here but it made for a thrilling experience and is one of my favorite racing moments. I had no idea who he was at the time but since then we have established a friendship and actually planned to meet again and race this year and this time it was a race from the start line.

I had 3 goals this year for the race. The first was to PR and I thought I should have no trouble with that. The second was to run a 38:38. I was fairly confident in that and my strategy was to go out conservative with that time in mind and finish strong. I was planning a 6:20 first mile and then to build from there. My third goal was to beat my friend Cliff who out kicked me in the final steps of the race last year.

We lined up next to each other and when the signal was given we were off. At the start line I was blocked in by a slower runner in front of me and I had to shove my way through. I took the early lead and hung on to it throughout most of the race with Cliff right on my shoulder never seeming to be more than 2 or 3 steps off.
We hit the first mile and I heard them calling out the time 6:04, 6:05, 6:06. Blasted! I had gone out to fast and this race was going to hurt bad. Cliff was right there on me so I couldn't really let up. Yeah, this race is going to hurt.

The first 1.5 miles of the course is pretty flat and the second 1.5 is described as having some "moderate hills." Moderate maybe in some other part of the country but these are nice sized hills for the middle of Indiana and they make the middle of this race a suffer-fest when you are going all out and are not afforded the luxury of backing off of the pace to accommodate for the extra work. Mile two 6:16 and mile three came in at 6:00. I was hurting pretty bad at this point. And there was Cliff still right on my heels.

I started to play with the pace a bit and realized that either knowingly or unknowingly he was letting me set the pace. I used this to allow myself to recover a bit and the next two miles came in at 6:14 each. Around mile 5 I spotted another runner who was starting to fade and targeted him for a pass. The course had flattened back out and as I caught up with him I was beginning to feel better and was confident I could finish strong from here. I tried to encourage him along with some positive words.

Between mile five and six was all business even as we were coming back toward town and catching the back end of the 5k. We started to received a lot of encouragement and I think people could tell we were racing. The race finishes by coming around a curve in the last tenth of a mile and my plan was to kick hard here. My wife who had just run the 5k was waiting here and though I couldn't see her for the sun I could hear here as she shouted to me letting me know that I really needed to go hard because Cliff was attempting a pass.

Headed to the finish and digging deep.

I dug deep and kicked hard and was able to hang on for the win. I ended up 4th overall out of 117 and 1st in my age group. I PR'ed with a time of 38:22. Not only did I achieved every goal I set before me for this race I also realized that I PR'ed the 5k in this race.....back-to-back, you know twice in a row....during the same race. Just like last year this race has shown me that my training is paying off and has energized me to finish out this training cycle strong.

Last year my oldest daughter ran this race with me. This year the whole family ran and my oldest daughters boyfriend even ran his first 5k here with us. Everyone had a great race. Kasey PR'ed and took 2nd in her age group, Hannah, coming off of a loll in running, ran a good race and finished 3rd in her age group. My wife who has been battling chronic knee issues for over a year ran a very good effort and was only off of her PR by 10 seconds. Finally, Jacob, my daughter's boyfriend, finished his first 5k and is looking to race again soon. All-in-all a great racing day for the whole family.