So, last Sunday was my 10K goal race. The race all this speed and hill training has been leading up to. The 55-minute goal that I thought was a bit too ambitions.

Anyway … I lined up race morning thinking that while it’d be awesome to see a 55 on that clock, I’d be happy just to set a new PR. And even happier to break 57 minutes. My 10K PR was 57:26.

I started off running with a friend from our training team. While she’s naturally faster than me, her training was a little lacking. She decided she’d rather aim for my goal time than hers.

The first mile was a little slow, at 9:21. It was crowed, and we placed ourselves back a little too far in the pack. We had a bit of ground to make up if we were going to come close to that goal!

It got better.

2. 8:58
3. 9:10
4. 8:58
5. 8:55

I was feeling good. Kind of like in my last half marathon, when I started speeding up in the second half. I started pulling away from my running buddy after the fourth mile, and kept going strong.

My fastest mile was the last, at 8:40. Whoa! I gave everything I had left and ran the last .22 (well, that’s what my Garmin tracked) in 1:41, a 7:30 pace.

It unfortunately wasn’t a chip race, though. Garmin time is a little more solidly in my goal range at 55:45 … apparently I didn’t quite start with the clock. Official time is 55:57. But I say it still counts!

I’m now even more excited to see what I can do in my 5Ks this summer.

And actually I ran one yesterday. It was the graduation race for the club’s 5K training class, and they had pace groups that anybody could join.

Excellent! I decided that even though it was a bit too fast for me, I would try to start with the 8:30 pacer.

Only she started out REALLY fast. If my Garmin’s current pace reading was correct, we were at times over a minute-per-mile too fast. I gave up running with her, and just tried to keep her in sight.

She was at least 20 feet ahead of me as I passed the one-mile mark. The volunteers called out my time at 8:13. My mile alert beeped a few steps later at 8:22. That might be the fastest mile I’ve ever run, other than a couple of one-mile track races.

Mile two was a little harder, with a bridge and some gravel trails. I finished that mile in 8:51.

I was really hoping to be able to beat my best 5K (27:19 — I won’t count the 25:55 when the course was only 2.9), and I really wanted to break 27. I was in good shape.

And then, just as I took a turn after mile two, I was hit with the worst side stitch. I can usually run through them, but I had to stop to walk for a few steps. I grabbed my side and tried to keep running.

It wasn’t getting better. My speed slowed. But after running over the bridge again, it finally went away. Unfortunately, it took nearly the entire third mile. I finished that up in 9:53. Ugh.

I was able to pick it up to a 7:46 pace for the final stretch, finishing in 27:48. Even though it was a little disappointing, it’s really not a bad time for me — it’s my third fastest. If you don’t count that 25:55.

They posted age-graded results, and I finished 10th out of 57. Overall 75th out of 438. Yes, it was a women’s only race, and they had runners and walkers … but I’ll take it!