Race Recap: Deland Thanksgiving 10 Miler 11/28/2019

Pre-Race
Thursday 11/28/2019 was the Deland Thanksgiving 10 miler and 5k race. This is one of the areas largest turkey trots. I just love this race and the 10 miler distance was perfect for me considering I had a 10 miler training run planned for that day. I planned to just run around a 9:00 pace or so and just enjoy the race. My finishing time would be around 1:30. Last year I ran a 1:12:15 which was around a 7:13 pace or so. I was focused on speed training then so my training run paces were much faster. 

Miles 1-3  8:20, 8:11, 8:08
I made sure to start in the middle so I didn't get caught up in the excitement and start off too fast. I felt so great during the first mile that I was shocked that my pace on Strava told me I ran an 8:20 mile because it felt so easy. I just kept going by feel and everything just felt so good. 

Miles 4-7  8:17, 8:14, 8:08, 8:00
During this part of the race I really began to notice how beautiful this part of Deland is. It's just such a pretty area to run in and look forward to this every year. I just kept going by pace and honestly this just felt right. I know it was faster than my intended pace but it just felt so right. 

Miles 8-10  7:52, 7:30, 7:10
I just went for it during the last few miles and was able to negative split the end of this run. I am super proud of myself and although it was nowhere near a PR or a race where I went all out it was super fun. 

Final Thoughts
I have quite a few final thoughts. I had such a great time running this and I am so glad I was able to participate. I know my marathon training is working too. Confession time- I was a little scared that because my training paces are slower than I'm used that I would not be able to run fast when it came time to my marathon. Now I feel more confident in this training and I feel like this plan is really working for me. It shows how important easy running is for training and I love it. 

Results
Time: 1:19:32
Pace: 7:57
Overall: 47th out of 222
2nd place female 30-34

The Bling