Jingle All The Way 10k Race Report

Being a competitive athlete, I try to enter each and every race expecting a PR. After all, that's what we train so hard for. But sometimes, I need to be reminded that a PR does not necessarily have to be the goal of each and every race. Despite my race plan, things changed after talking to Rebecca the day before the race. I quickly became aware that this race should be more than just another PR. So I decided to just have fun for a change. Typically, we run 1 race together each year - the Turkey Trot. Well since this year we were traveling during that time, we never got to do that. This would be our chance to make up and (for me) to have fun doing it.

Despite not necessarily having a time goal, I know pretty objectively what Rebecca is capable of running at any time (contrary to what she may think she can run, which is usually slower than I know she can run). So in my head, I was targeting 60:00, which is what I believed she was capable of running. And I try to make it a fun game of being the pacer to get things to work out ideally. For me, that involves consistent feedback from her and me monitoring her as we move about the course. And when the plan does work out, I get just as much joy and adrenaline in seeing her success, than I do when I achieve my own.

So with that in mind, we set out with some friends to run the race, where I would serve as the pacer. I set out to utilize a negative split race strategy, which is always ideal. The only complication is that Rebecca loves the run/walk. She does best when she has those breaks built in there. So we set out with a 9:00 run/1:00 walk strategy and I just hoped I could nail the paces to get us to the finish line sub-60. Here were our splits:

Mile 1: 9:51
Mile 2: 9:39
Mile 3: 9:37
Mile 4: 9:37
Mile 5: 9:27
Mile 6: 9:09
Last .2: 7:56 pace
FINAL TIME: 59:35

We went out the first 5k in 30:30 and finished the 2nd 5k in 29:05, giving us a solid 1:25 split. Each mile was faster than the previous one and Rebecca really booked it at the end to nip me by 1 second ;) Who said I'm not chivalrous!

For her recap, you can read it here. Despite rough racing weather, it was a great race and a fun time. Stay tuned for hopefully some fun pictures from the race.