Birthday Weekend (Part 2)

The following day, Sunday, I was back racing again. This time in Mckinley Hill, famous for its steep climbs and descents. I've been shying away from Mckinley Hill races since I know that it'll be a painful one as I'm not a good hill runner, but, it was my birthday and the PinkRun was for a good cause (breast cancer cure).

I signed up for (another) 10k race and I wasn't expecting a PR on this one although a course-PR was in sight. I last raced here in 2010 in the Mcdonalds Happy Day Fun Run when I finished between 1:05-1:15. I was still fresh from the previous day's 10k race so racing this one would be a challenge.

The race course was tough, as expected. I paced myself well from the onset, running above my usual 10k pace to be able to recover after the tough climbs. I made short term goals by marking a runner and hoping to pass him/her. It proved helpful as I was able to have a good race although my pace was not going to be sub-60 even if I gave it my all on the last 1km.

Total distance (Garmin)= 10.10km
Pace breakdown per km (Garmin): 6:28, 6:05, 5:49, 5:55, 5:53, 6:06, 6:00, 6:06, 5:43, 5:50, 38secs (last 100m).
Total time (official) = 1:00:23 (gun), 1:00:10 (chip)

It was a good birthday race as I was able to conquer Mckinley with a course PR by 5mins approximately. Further, I finished 36th overall (!!!) among 271+ runners which makes me on the top 13% of the group. Really nice.

I guess the only natural direction from here is to race that course again and aim for a sub-60.