Masters Running

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Mid-Winter 10 Mile Race Report (Read 151 times)

    This was supposed to be just a quick little race report from Sunday’s Mid-Winter 10 Miler in Cape Elizabeth which is generally accompanied by strong winds and bone chilling cold temps. Well not this year, it was cool enough but not bad really too bad all things considering. At race time it was about 20° and little to no wind at all which is extremely unusual for this course. Well anyways not such a little report...sorry! Big grin Of course after getting up I had my usual bowl of cereal and glass of OJ and grabbed a banana and bottle of Propel for the ride to Cape Elizabeth. I had met a few of my running friends at a local shopping center prior to the race then headed out to Cape Elizabeth High School which is where the race starts and ends. After grabbing our race packet and a nice long sleeve tech shirt we staked out a table in the cafeteria and relaxed and talked it up a bit before getting ready for the race. At about 9:15 I began to get ready in earnest and had my black Under Armour cold weather running suit on along with my Asics 2110’s and a black Under Armour hat and a pair of running gloves under a pair of mittens, (which I later removed) and of course my trusty old Garmin. We headed out the door at about 9:30 for a brief warm up and ended up getting in 1.26 very easy miles in 10:44 - 8:31 and then headed over to the starting area. As we waited for the start the announcer made some brief comments and then the cow bell sounded…yeah you read it right…the cow bell sounded for the start of the race with no real warning at all and we were off. As we headed out Brian and I ran the first mile together with ease at 6:33 but I knew right off that I wasn’t going to be able to maintain that pace…my legs were quite simply TIRED! I eased up to a much more comfortable pace for me during the second mile and let Brian go. I have to admit that I battled a bit of disappointment right about now knowing that there was no way I would be setting any type of PR on this particular day and came to grips with it after thinking about how hard a race I had run last week at the Boston 16 Mile Prep and setting a PR there, oh well it is what it is I figured as mile two came in at 7:10 a pace I knew I could comfortably handle on this particular day. I continued along and really didn’t have too many people pass me although there were a few, but most of those were caught later on, mile three came in at 7:08. Somewhere during this stretch two more running friends of mine came up along side of me and eventually passed me…grrrrr…no that’s really ok although one says, hey what’s up, you’re not supposed to be way back here? He’s a great runner and I knew he was only expressing his concern and I told him that I was quite simply beat and just didn’t have it in me today and off he went as mile four came in at 7:02. During the next two miles I had two older guys pass me that I set my sights on and figured that I had to at least keep them in sight. I battled back and forth with them for quite a bit as we passed mile five in 7:10 and mile six in 7:10 as well, hmmm at least that’s nice even pacing I figured. This is where I figured I would try to pick it up a little bit and attempt to reel those two guys in, ahhh success during mile seven as I passed the first guy and never saw him again until the end (I think he just went out too fast) as mile seven passes in 7:07. This other guy proved to be a pretty formidable opponent on this day, we really went back and forth as I would pass him on the up hills and we would scoot by on the down hills, mile eight passed by in 7:13…hmmm…I didn’t think I was going that slow! Well we aren’t going all that slow I figure as we begin to catch up to and pass quite a few runners in these last two miles. So I stay right on the heels of that second guy and just roll along as we finish mile nine in 7:07. OK this is it the final mile, and I want to finish strong and really gut this last mile out as the first half is a real long and gradual rise which leads to the high school and a nice downhill finish. As we finally make our turn into the high school I make my move on the guy and pass him on the left along with a younger runner…whoa…the younger runner doesn’t like being passed by an old guy and really kicks it in here. However, as we cruise on down to the last tenth of a mile or so the young gun loses steam and I pass him and the other guy passes me … crap … ok hold on just a moment and then hit it I tell myself … and I do just that and YES I'm gonna pass him…woops…NO I run out of real estate and the guy nips me at the finish! Oh well I find out later that he is actually younger than me and in the next lower age group (I thought he was a bit older than I was). After my initial disappointment I am really pretty happy overall as I realize that last weeks effort just took a bit more out of me than I realized and I probably ran a couple of my runs during the week a bit harder than I should have knowing that I had a race coming up...oh well, there will be many more races to come! Wink Official results - 10 miles - 1:10:45 (7:05) - Avg HR 154 Max HR 169 - Cloudy & 20° OA - 99 - 689 AG - 7 - 38 Garmin’s tally - 6:33 - 7:10 - 7:08 - 7:02 - 7:10 - 7:10 - 7:07 - 7:13 - 7:06 - 6:46 - :17


    i'm lovin' it... MM#1949

      Pretty fast for an old tired guy Big grin nice report Maine.. you make a good race out of any condition..very exciting!

      Perch's Profile "I don't know if running adds years to your life, but it definitely adds life to your years." - Jim Fixx "The secret is to make in your mind possible what was not possible before. The secret is to make easy what was difficult, instead to make difficult what really is easy." - Coach Renato Canova

      coastwalker


        Hi MR, I'm not surprised that you didn't have quite fresh enough legs after last week's PR at the BostonPrep. Good job, though, of creating a race within the race to keep it fun, and to give yourself an incentive to push a little harder. What was it about mile #8? That was one of my slowest miles too, and I don't remember it being especially challenging. You did a greta job of powering up the first 1/2-3/4 of last mile to reel in your target. It is too bad that whipper-snapper nipped you at the line, but at least you showed him that you're one runnah who can't be messed with! You also did a nice job off bookending some good, consistent miles with two quick ones. Good racing on tired legs!! Now maybe you should back off a bit, at least for a day or two... Jay

        Without ice cream there would be darkness and chaos.


        Renee the dog

          WHAT A RACE! The way you tell it, I feel like I was there watching it! Good effort, esp. after your great performance last week. Cool

          GOALS 2012: UNDECIDED

          GOALS 2011: LIVE!!!

            Nice job, maine. You had me with you the whole way. You are one fast guy to run a 7:05 pace for 10 miles on tired legs. Judging by your placement and your time, I'd say there was some pretty fast competition. Congratulations. TomS


            #artbydmcbride

              Wow! Great job! And nice even pacing too. Smile

               

              Runners run

              wildchild


              Carolyn

                You know what they say... speed kills. So it was a good thing you backed off your pace a bit. Wink Great RR!

                I hammered down the trail, passing rocks and trees like they were standing still.

                Tramps


                  Maine, it's great that you know yourself so well and can adjust well on the fly like this. Very nice race. Good report, too, but I was hoping for more cowbell Tongue

                  Be safe. Be kind.