The Twin Cities 10 Mile on October 5th was a day I was hopeful that would yield another PR but unfortunately it did not. I ended up having to pivot mid-race, but it ended up being a race that I bet I will remember forever.
Race morning (Sunday) I woke up at 2:30 a.m. and couldn’t fall back asleep until my 3:30 a.m. alarm. I felt wide away, so I finally got up around 3:15 a.m. when I was tired of trying to fall back to sleep. I was staying at my sister, Kristy’s, house as she lives closer to the race, and I had the boys with me since Craig is usually busy in the fields this time of the year. It was a bit of an over-commitment in scheduling activities as Cullen had a soccer game that got over at 6:15 p.m. Saturday night, and then we had an hour and a half drive to Kristy’s house. We got to her house a little before 8:00 p.m., and I told the boys we had to go to bed as soon as we got to their cousin’s house. Luckily we were all in bed by 8:50 p.m. and I think all sleeping by about 9:15 p.m. which means I got about five hours of sleep. Definitely not ideal the night before a race, but I did sleep well two nights before the race.
After I got up, I took a shower (my routine), and got ready. I was ready by 4:00 a.m. and then went downstairs to start eating my breakfast. I had a cup of coffee and a Nature’s Bakery fig bar and then stepped outside to check the temp–even though I had already seen 70*F on my phone. When I stepped outside, it wasn’t even cold, which I knew was a bad sign. I went back inside and spent some time foam rolling and gathering my things together. I also had a banana before we left at 4:50 a.m. It was less than a 30 minute drive to St. Paul, and we parked just under a mile from the finish line. We have our routine figured out after doing this race together a few times now, which is nice for less stress race morning. We then hopped on the train that would take us to the start in Minneapolis. We had about a 30 minute train ride and each stop brought more runners onto the train. I had a package of Skratch chews around 5:45 a.m.
What’s crazy is that I didn’t even feel nervous for the race. This happened at City of Lakes Half as well, which was so bizarre since I am perpetually nervous for every race I run. I wasn’t sure if the lack of nerves were a good thing or bad thing. Either my body knew it wasn’t worth getting nervous for because it wasn’t going to be a great day, or maybe I was very confident with my fitness going into the race. Mentally I was worried about the warm temps, but I also knew I had to at least give myself a chance to go for the PR.
When Kristy and I got to the start around 6:00 a.m., it was still pitch dark but runners were starting to congregate for the start of the race. We immediately found a port-a-potty to use and then sat down for about 15 minutes since it was still kind of early to warm up. At 6:15 a.m. we did a mile warm-up around the area and then used the bathroom again. Classic, right?! We finished our warm-ups with some drill work and strides before hopping into the A corral. I worked my way towards the front and found my local running buddy. It’s always nice to see a familiar face. We said our good-lucks to each other and stood there anxiously waiting until the gun goes, which felt like an eternity.
I have to say, one reason I love this race is because it starts to get light right as we are waiting in the corral to start, and it is so pretty amongst all of the skyscrapers downtown. I was comfortable standing in the corral with just my sports bra and shorts on (not a good sign), but there was a breeze, and I was hoping it would be enough to keep me cool.
As soon as the gun went off, I settled into step right behind my running buddy and at a pace that felt appropriate for me. To be honest, I didn’t even look at my watch, I just followed my running buddy for as long as I could, which was only about a mile before she took off.
Mile 1 – 6:17
Mile 2 – 6:11
The first two miles have quite a bit of downhill (with a little bit of climbing), and then mile 3 is a long gradual climb of nearly 100 feet. I know to expect it now, and it isn’t too bad–especially since it comes early in the race, so I was still feeling really good at this point.
Mile 3 – 6:23
Mile 4 – 6:13
I was happy with my pace through these first few miles, and I was hopeful I could keep it up. I was taking water at every aid station–drinking some, as well as pouring some on myself. I didn’t necessarily feel hot, but I also didn’t feel that cool. The breeze helped for sure and luckily it wasn’t so strong that it felt like it was impacting my pace.
Miles four and five along the river road definitely have some hills, and I was starting to feel it affect my legs. Sadly, I have very few hills where I live, so it is hard to train on rolling surfaces. I did my best to stay confident and reminded myself that the last three miles of the race are all downhill.
Everyone talks about the hill up to Summit, which is mile 5 of the 10 mile race. I honestly didn’t even realize it was the last big hill of the race, so when I got to Summit, I was surprised I was already there. What I forgot was how long you are on Summit. I forgot that you still have 4.5 miles to go on this road, and I was really starting to hurt now. My breathing (EILO) was starting to go and once it becomes labored, there is no calming it down (unless I stop for several minutes). I continued to push myself, but I saw my pace drop to the 6:30s. I knew that if I couldn’t pick it up here, there was no way I was going to beat my PR.
Mile 5 – 6:32
I was already hurting bad at this point and knew deep down, it was going to be a death march until the finish. The thought of stopping, waiting for my sister, and finishing the race with her crossed my mind. I never have thoughts like this. I tried to brush it off, but it came back again. And then I thought about the text my coach sent me the night before, “I hope you have a blast out there.” And that was the final straw to pull over to the side of the road and run the last four miles with Kristy. I really didn’t even have time to think about it–my body just swerved off to the side to wait for her. I second-guessed my decision for a split-second but then decided, nope, I’m going to wait for her.
Mile 6 – 11:51 (I figured I waited about 5 minutes for my sister.)
I finally saw her bright yellow shorts, and I ran over to her and said, “I knew there was a reason you wore bright yellow shorts today!” She said, “What are you doing?” I told her I was having an off day, so I decided to run with her instead. So we ran the last 4 miles together, waving at people who cheered for us, and enjoying the company of each other. Several years back, I paced her in a workout and talked her through the final reps, but afterwards she told me she doesn’t want to be talked when she is working hard. (Oops!) So I didn’t say much to her during these last miles, but I know she still appreciated the company.
I let Kristy set the pace and she was really pushing those last few miles!
Mile 7 – 7:14
Mile 8 – 6:52
Mile 9 – 7:00
Mile 10 – 6:32
Peep that heart rate during the last four miles! Now I will say, I don’t know how accurate my wrist-based heart rate monitor is. Those last four miles didn’t feel *that* hard, but they also didn’t feel that easy either.
We crossed the finish line together, but she did beat me since she started after me.
All-in-all, it was a fun race, and I’m already looking forward to next year. Let’s just hope 2026 brings some cooler races my way! 2025 was the year of warm/hot races for me! All of my races (except one) was in the 70s or 80s (F), which is really warm for racing. I really struggled this year to set new PRs in those temps. While I love training in the warm/hot weather, racing is a different story, and I wish my breathing issues (EILO) didn’t flare up as the temps rose. I think I would be fine otherwise.
I may jump into one more race this fall if I can find a 10K next month or in cooler weather. Which shouldn’t be a problem as fall came the very next day after this race with morning temps in the 40s. Ugh! (The same thing happened at the McKirdy Marathon back in March.) I guess this just means it will be easier to set more PRs next year!
