Sunday Runday: St. Patrick's Day 10k/Run to the Deep 10k

Two race reports in one!  A special bonus edition Sunday Runday!

Kind of.

See, in my quest to run a sub-hour 10k, I've been signing up for some of my favorite local 10ks.  So the St. Patrick's Day 10k was a must-do for me.  And then I got an email from The British Science Association about a new  virtual race they were organizing, Run to the Deep 10k.  You may (or may not) remember The British Science Association from the last time I ran their "Run the Solar System" virtual 10k.  I had such a good time doing that one, that as soon as I saw this one,  I signed up.  Even better that it was free!

Timing-wise, the Run to the Deep race came out on March 8, to be run by March 18.  With my long training runs, and the half marathon itself, it seemed I wouldn't get to it that first weekends, but I was already signed up for a 10k the last weekend.  I decided I would play the race app while I ran the St. Patrick's Day 10k.

I should have known better.  If you recall, when I ran the Run the Solar System virtual race, it was dark outside and I really felt like I was in space.  Well this time, I was running "under water" so it should be no surprise to you that once again the real world decided to collaborate with the virtual world and I woke up to rain.

It rained the whole way down to Mission Bay, where the race was taking place.  It stopped once I got there, and I thought we might get a break in the weather.  Until we lined up for the race start and the rain started up again.

The only positive thing about the rain is that it led to a beautiful rainbow while we waited for the race to start.

The race started and we were off.  Like the other virtual 10k by the British Science Association, this one would pop on every 500-1000 meters to tell me part of the story as I "ran" deeper and deeper under the water.  Each "stop" talked about different marine life, or features at that level - like the ruins of the Titanic.

And it felt fitting that I was super wet as I ran, right?  I mean, I was 500 meters below the ocean's surface!  Luckily the rain stopped during that first mile and the rest of the race was "dry" (from the sky - still wet on the ground.)

The actual 10k I was running had timers stationed every other mile to let us know how we were doing, which was very motivational!  Especially since I was using the race app for the virtual 10k and didn't think to start my Nike+ App which usually tells me how I'm doing speed wise.  I hit 5k at 28 minutes and thought I could definitely keep up that speed for the rest of the race.

It's a nice, flat course, and while it isn't terribly interesting, there aren't many truly flat courses in San Diego.  And I had that goal to reach....

After the race, as usual, Domino's Pizza had set up a tent handing out free pizza.  I seriously love this race.

I grabbed my slice and headed over to the beer garden.  Pizza and beer for breakfast.  A St. Patrick's Day tradition.

The St. Patrick's Day 10k is one of the only races I know with an unlimited beer garden.  I've never really taken advantage of that fact, because there are always places to be and people to see after the race, and really I'm not one for sitting and drinking by myself.   But the selection is varied.  There were beers from 4 local breweries - Karl Strauss, Ballast Point, Stone, and Coronado Brewing Company.

Breakfast of champions!

Now here's the fun part about running two races - my finish time!  According to the St. Patrick's Day 10k, I finished in 1 hour and 36 seconds.  Just 37 seconds too slow!  BUT according to the Racelink app for the Run to the Deep 10k, I finished in 59 minutes 18 seconds!!!!!!!  So which is my "official time"?  Did I meet my goal?  Both are personal records for me, but only one means I have officially run a sub hour 10k.  What do you think?