It was a perfect day for a race. As a matter of fact, it was the most perfect race weather I've ever had. (See Catalina Marathon for an example of typical Celeste race weather). The day started on the chilly side - around 36 degrees, but warmed up to about 60 by the time I finished the race.
I was running the timed/competitive event. This is the fourth time I've run the Cap10k, and each race I've managed to improve my finish time. This time was no exception. I finished in 51:21 (watch time) and 51:23 (chip time). This is a pace of 8:17 per mile which is probably the fastest pace I've run any race. And had I not started wheezing pretty heavily about mile 3 I think I could've gone under 51:00.
The course was very crowded, but I stayed to the outside of the pack and didn't have any trouble getting going. The start was very smooth, and I ran the first few miles - the ones with so-called hills - very strongly. The caveat because that nothing really looks like a hill after having run at Catalina! The last three miles were a struggle because of the asthma, but after putting up an 8:28 for mile 5, I knew I just had to suffer if I wanted my 52:00 (which was my goal). Luckily I had put enough time "in the bank" that I still managed to meet and beat my goal.
At the finish, after I walked around for a while recovering and finding water, I jogged back to my car, grabbed my camera and jogged back to the finish so that I could take pictures of my husband (the world's greatest fan) and our friends Bill and Kim who were all doing the fun run/walk. They had planned to walk the whole thing, but did in fact break into a run every now and then, and finished strongly. It was the first 10k for all of them, and they finished with smiles.