Beginners and Beyond

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RR: Tufts Health Plan 10K for Women (Read 53 times)


From the Internet.

    Today, just over a week after racing my ass off for a new 5K PR, I raced my first-ever 10K. I figured since I'm going to be out for some indefinite period for recovery from surgery (tomorrow! eek!), I may as well push my boundaries a little and see how my legs hold up to a new distance and back-to-back race weekends. It was awesome and it hurt and it sucked and I can't wait to run another one Smile This will be shorter than my usual novels because I have a bunch of stuff to get done tonight, before I can no longer lift more than 10 pounds at a time!

     

    My training to this point has been with the 5K in mind, but after some reading and soliciting of opinions it seems that 10K training isn't SO different from what I've been doing, so I figured I'd have a good shot at racing well if I could keep up the mental side of things during the race. My plan was to start off around 8:15-8:20 pace, start picking it up in the middle, and finish strong.

     

    The Tufts 10K is a mostly-women race (Tufts Health Plan has both male and female employees who run the race and I saw a couple other scattered dudes) that is in its 38th year. As such an established event, everything was *really* well-organized - I would never have guessed that there were 5000+ women (and a few men) running if the announcer hadn't mentioned that fact multiple times. The race expo/registration/bag check are located at Boston Common along Charles St, and the race start is just around the corner on Beacon St. Runners self-seed 30-40 minutes prior to the start, prompted by announcements for each of the six seed groups. They had us organize ourselves along Charles St with plenty of space to continue to warm up if needed and marched us up to the start line about 10 minutes before noon. The elite runners were all introduced while we were waiting; the race is also the USATF National Women's Club 10K Championship, which is pretty cool. Jordan Hasay won it in 31:39!

     

    I was frankly kind of shocked at how close to the front I got to start - the difference between my gun and chip time was only 11 seconds, and while I had to weave a little bit in the first mile it really didn't slow me down at all. The race was mostly flat - couple minor inclines/declines, but nothing that would make you struggle, and because the course is this weird T-shaped out-and-back thing, any hill you run will up will become a downhill in a few short minutes.


    Once through the first mile, people seemed to settle into their paces and I ran leapfrogging the same few people for the middle miles of the race. One woman in a "Run like a mother" shirt kept passing me back and I swore that I would NOT let her finish ahead of me, which kept me going through miles 2 and 3. Shirts like that just completely irrationally irritate me - I'm a mother too, lady, but I run like someone who trains for running! :P Around 4.5, or maybe a little before that, I lost that mother and the rest of the little pack I'd been running with - I passed her and she never came back again, so I started picking new targets to take out. Took an elbow to the arm at one point passing too close to someone, yelled an apology at her. I'm gonna have a gnarly bruise tomorrow. As I got closer to the end I kept finding new gears, much to my surprise and delight. Turning the final corner, I realized I'd definitely get in under 50:00 if I really hauled ass. The crowd support and announcer were really great at that point, I barrelled across the line feeling like a million bucks (but at the same time also like puke). Chip time was 49:41, good for 381/5039 overall and 124/960 in 20-29.

     

    Garmin splits:
    Mile 1: 8:14

    Mile 2: 8:03

    Mile 3: 7:56

    Mile 4: 7:57

    Mile 5: 7:50

    Mile 6: 7:37

    Last 0.31: 2:04/6:37 pace

     

    Great way to end a race season - given that I'd never raced a 10K before I don't think I could have paced it any better. I maybe could have gone out a few seconds faster than I did, but who's to say that wouldn't have caused a blowup and a slower time overall. Can't wait to get back out there next spring!

    GinnyinPA


      Congratulations Lauren!  What a great first 10k.

       

      Good luck with your surgery tomorrow.  I hope you'll be healed and back running quickly.

      music_girl117


        Oh my gosh, brilliant splits!!  What a well-executed race.  Very well done!  Best of luck with the surgery and your recovery.

         

        oh yeah, and I hate shirts like that too. :P

        PRs:

        5k - 22:53  (May 2015)

        10k - 50:00 (unofficial; part of 20k race, March 2015); 50:33 (official; July 2016)

        HM - 1:48:40  (Apr. 2015)

        Docket_Rocket


          Great job!

           

          Keep us posted on the surgery and good luck!

          Damaris

           

          As part of the 2024 London Marathon, I am fundraising for VICTA, a charity that helps blind and visually impaired children. My mentor while in law school, Jim K (a blind attorney), has been a huge inspiration and an example of courage and perseverance. Please consider donating.

          Fundraising Page

          B-Plus


            Excellent splits. It looks like you ran a smart race. Recover well from the surgery.

            Brilliant


              2 new PRs in 8 days - fantastic!  Hoping your surgery and recovery go well.

                Wonderful splits.

                 

                Way to end the season on a high note, recover well from surgery.

                Jack K.


                uʍop ǝpᴉsdn sǝʇᴉɹʍ ʇI

                  Mile 6... NICE! Good luck with the surgery and well done on a great week. FWIW, 10Ks are my least favorite race distance. 10K = pain and suffering but you did very well.

                  outoftheblue


                    Congrats!  What a fantastic debut.  You look born to run 10Ks and  I envy your splits.

                     

                    I hope the surgery goes well.

                    Life is good.

                    happylily


                      Congratulations! Good luck with the surgery, you will be back in no time. 

                      PRs: Boston Marathon, 3:27, April 15th 2013

                              Cornwall Half-Marathon, 1:35, April 27th 2013

                      18 marathons, 18 BQs since 2010

                      PADRunner


                        Nice job! Talk about negative splits!

                         

                        Good luck with the surgery.

                        RSX


                          Congrats on getting a PR. It was such a nice day for running in our area.

                          fourouta5


                          Healed Hammy

                            Pretty solid splits.  Did you enjoy the 10k?  As Jack noted above, they can be a lot of angst for a longer time which is why they are often disliked.  On the other hand, they are great fitness improvers, just like a really hard tempo run and they really help with all your race fitness.

                             

                            Good luck on the surgery.


                            From the Internet.

                              Thanks everyone! Smile Surgery is over, was a breeze. Bring on the recovery!

                               

                              music_girl - glad I'm not the only one, haha Smile I debated whether it was too catty to mention the shirt thing in a RR but it was a big mid-race motivator so I left it in there.

                               

                              fourouta5 - I actually really liked the 10K distance, surprisingly. I found it just as painful as 5K by the end, but somehow the prolonged suffering didn't really bother me.

                              Zelanie


                                I think a racing monster has awoken!  Watch out when you are done with recovery!

                                 

                                PS- Good job running down that mother.

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