Manhattan Beach 10k Race Report

It was a rather last-minute decision, but I decided last week to register for the Manhattan Beach 10k on October 3rd. A friend was choosing this as her first race, and I was inspired to make this my comeback race. My training has been spotty over the last two months, and I really needed to feel inspired again. The fact that MB is local made this choice even easier.

I was a bit nervous at the start, but I wanted to keep this race low pressure and high fun. I saw a ton of TNT people and some other acquaintances along the way. The route had plenty of hills, including one biggie at mile 5. Surprisingly, I maintained an 11:15 pace throughout - MUCH faster than my usual training pace (typically 12:00-13:00 depending on terrain). I had to run-walk up the final hill (due to lack of recent hill training), but it was heaven coming down onto the Strand for the final mile and a beautiful ocean view. I tried to push myself to the MB pier, where I saw balloons and the blessed finish line. My official chip time was 1:09:34. I am more than satisfied with the result, given my lack of consistency these days.

I can't wait to get back into my training routine and run my next race, which might be during a business trip in Washington, DC.

In other news, I am off to Hawaii for a wedding this week. I will definitely be bringing my running shoes and logging some island miles!