1

Pepsi 10K Race Report (Read 610 times)

va


    Today I ran the Pepsi 10K in Charlottesville, VA. Although the day started out overcast, it turned out to be a beautiful day for a race, with bright blue skies and temperatures in the mid-60s. The race starts in the parking lot of the Meriwether-Lewis Elementary School. The course is a 2-legged out-and-back on Owensville Rd, west of town. The first leg is roughly 1 mile out/1mile back in one direction, and the second leg is 2 miles out/2 miles back in the opposite direction. The course was easy to follow, and although the roads weren’t closed, there weren’t many cars. The course is mostly gently rolling hills. There were volunteers calling mile splits, and water at the 2 and 4 mile points. The race is well organized. For a pre-registration cost of 16 bucks, you get a tech t-shirt and plenty of good food and drinks afterwards. There also were “grab bag” gifts given out afterwards, with names pulled from a hat. The event is to benefit the Special Olympics. There was a big turn-out for the race, about 330 runners. Last year there were 241. I will likely run this one again. I didn’t really know what to expect in terms of performance. My last 10K, in May, I was 21 pounds heavier and finished in 59:54. I was hoping to break 55 minutes, and would have been very happy to break 54 minutes. McMillan predicted 51:52 (8:20 mpm) based on a recent 5K of 24:58 (8:02), but I was skeptical that that this level of performance would translate well for me to the 10K, plus that 5K performance was on a track. So, I was quite happy when I finished in 50:06 (8:04), an improvement of 9:48 over the 10K in May. In terms of improvement/pound, this translates to 28 seconds of improvement per pound of weight lost. Note that I have been training hard as well as losing weight, so the improvement can’t be solely attributed to the weight-loss (maybe half?). I started doing some speed-work a few months ago and have recently introduced tempo runs. My weekly mileage has been hovering around 30 miles/week since February. If I extrapolate this improvement to another 15 pounds of weight-loss and equivalent training, then I would be able to shave another 15 lbs * 28 seconds/pound = 420 seconds or 7 minutes off of my finish time. That would mean a 43:00 (6:55) 10K finish. I suspect I will reach my genetic limitations before then, but it will be fun to find out how far I can take it…
    Trent


    Good Bad & The Monkey

      Sweet work! But I prefer Coke.
      zoom-zoom


      rectumdamnnearkilledem

        Stephen, that is great progress in a relatively short time. I think you will definitely continue to increase your pace with no extra effort with your weight loss and training. Isn't it great to see those smaller time numbers!? Big grin k

        Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

        remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

             ~ Sarah Kay

          Congratulations on your time, (and the weight loss)! How exciting to see such a drop in time. Smile

          Michelle



            Congrats! THat is some impressive progress.

            Runners run


            You'll ruin your knees!

              Sweet work! But I prefer Coke.
              Idiot, boob, loser...with all due respect, of course. Tight lipped No Now that I got that off my chest...AWESOME JOB STEPHEN!!!!! That is a huge drop in time given the distance! Congrats! Lynn B

              ""...the truth that someday, you will go for your last run. But not today—today you got to run." - Matt Crownover (after Western States)

                WoW! That's huge! Congrats on the PR and the weight loss Smile

                Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away...(unkown)




                Go With The Flow
                Thyroid Support Group

                  Holy COW, Stephen! Nice work there on all fronts!

                  When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?

                  va


                    Thanks all!!! Big grin
                    btb1490


                      This some pretty impressive improvement you've made! Keep up the great work!