Thanks for the comments some have already made in the dailies. I was not actually going to write a report, because the race seemed pretty uneventful. But I started to make some rambling comments in the dailies, so decided to move it elsewhere. Warning - there is a lot more rambling than actual race reporting here.

Although I have done 3 marathons & 3 HM's, have not done a 5k or 10k.

This race could not be any more convenient. Start was a mile from my house, and ran through my neighborhood, portions of my usual route.

Goal was to go out at 7:30 mpm (46:30), but hopefully pick it up in the last 1-2 miles if I had anything more.

Splits:

1 - 7:24

2 - 7:37

3 - 7:31

4 - 7:18

5 - 7:27

6 - 6:54

0.2 - 5:53

Time 45:46.

OA 27/201

AG 3/17 - scored a lovely glass beer mug award. I guess this is why people like doing small local races, because I don't know what I'm doing with an AG placing.

My main thought is while it was very cool to put down the final mile in sub-7, I guess it means I should have taken the earlier miles a bit faster, and paced more evenly. (Although certainly preferable to going the other direction.) Since I have not done races <HM, or a lot of speedwork in training, I just do not have a good feel for these kind of paces. So I kind of never know what I am going to see when I look down at my watch. And it is totally ingrained in my head from marathoning to keep the early miles feeling pretty easy, so in shorter distances it is hard for me to adjust to pushing harder early. Of course I realize all this can be improved with more race experience.

But I'm not yet sure whether I will do more of these. There is another very convenient 5k/10k in 2 weeks (12 days actually) but haven't decided if I will run it. I do like the fact that they are over quickly, and don't require much taper/recovery training interruptions. Although it was frustrating this weekend that I felt I really couldn't get in a long run; I still want to keep my weekly mileage up, as my head is still more in marathon mode. The biggest reason I did this race is it seems common to use a 10k time as a basis for training paces & goal paces for longer races. So I figured it was good to have some kind of time in the books. And I am happy this time suggests I can be a lot faster in the longer distances if I train well.

Marathons and HMs, but no 5 or 10Ks? You think you're better than us! (Seinfeld reference)

That the race was so close to home is awesome. That you won a AG prize is even better! You should go out and do the 5k just to get a time. Then you have a starting point because, come on, you have do more "short" races in the future. Great race, DaveP, and like you said, I think you could have started even faster and taken more time off. That was a good run.

Dave, this looks like damn good execution for your first 10K.  You're like Opposite Runner though (Seinfeld reference?).  Most 10K debuts have a fast first half and slow second half, and certainly not a fastest final mile nor a negative split.  Maybe you went out a tad conservatively, but I'd take these splits over a fade any day.  Great job and congrats on the AG award!

Congrats Dave on scoring a beer mug! Yeah, 10ks are a different animal. You can run them pretty fast, but it really helps to have endurance from HM or FM training. Again, congrats on your first 10k and I think you ran it pretty well but with better pacing you could have an even better time.

Wow! There is speed in you, Dave! That is an awesome and exciting thing to discover. But please, please, don't defect to the other camp. Remember: marathons, marathons, marathons. I see a sub-3:35 marathon for you in a very near future if you stay with me on the loony bin training plan.  But for now, enjoy your new found speed, you deserve big congrats. AG award, woohoo!

Congrats Dave! I think it's a good idea to step out of your comfort zone and spend some time training for and racing this long-searing crap. I feel it makes marathon pace feel so much more relatively manageable when you get back to it.

Thanks for all the comments.

So now you all want me to run a 5k too? You know what my response to that is?

But dammit you people might just peer-pressure me into it.

So the upcoming race I was looking at for another possible crack at the 10k, I suppose I could do the 5k instead. With 10 training days until then, no time to really do anything differently anyway, just show up & run. Ugh, I will have to think about it....

Great job Dave!

Shorter races can a be a lot of fun, and I agree, it's nice that they don't require a lot of taper or recovery.