This was my second time running the CCC 10k. The corraled start was a major improvement from the last time I ran this in 2010. Although somewhat mild for New Orleans, it was about 80 degrees at the start and I could really feel it during the race.
The start was still a little crowded and I feel like I was fighting for position for almost the whole first mile. By the time I checked my watch about .7 miles in, I realized I had gone out much faster than planned. It felt good, so I didn't slow down much until after two miles. About half way through, the heat was hurting me and I realized it was going to be a stuggle getting to the finish.
The splits were as follows 6:11, 6:20, 6:41, 6:50, 6:52, 7:07. Total chip time was 41:45 which was slightly slower than my goal pace of 41:30, but beat my previous PR of 42:26 from last November. I ran the first 5k of the race in about 20:10 which also would beat my previous 5k PR by 19 seconds. I figure that the heat added about a minute to my time compared to running in mild temperatures. Also, my Garmin had the distance at 6.26 miles probably due to weaving in and out around people during the first mile.
Overall, I was satisfied with my performance, but again made the mistake of going out too fast which made the last couple miles pretty miserable for myself.
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