I haven't raced a 10K since last spring. I'm not really training for anything right now, just sort of trying to race now and again to get a sense of where I am, fitness-wise. I had a rough year as far as racing goes last year, so I'm really just trying to get some consistency and some confidence.
So the plan today was to start conservatively for the first 1-2 miles, hold steady through mile 4, then give whatever I have left through to the end. I wasn't 100% sure what that would look like, numbers-wise, but figured I might be close to my PR of 53:03.
I showed up early and ran 2.6 with 4 strides as a warmup. Everything went so smoothly that I ended up with 20 minutes to mill around afterwards. A guy walked past, and I recognized him as the guy who has outkicked me at the end of two recent races. I outkicked him at this same race last year. He was wearing Manchester United shorts, so I'll call him Man U guy. Since I had time, I went over and said hello and asked what distance he was running (there was a 5, 10, and 15K). Sure enough, he was running the 10K too. I mentioned that he had beaten me a couple of times lately, and wished him good luck.
Then I spotted a running club friend who was there to take photos. He's running the trail 50K next weekend, so his plan was to take photos of the race, then go out and run 30 miles on the roads. I pointed out Man U guy, and told him my plan was to finish in front of him. And of course wished him luck on his LR.
The race was not chip timed, and they lined up the 10K and 15K together. So I lost a little bit of time at the start, but I think I lined up about right for my pace.
Miles 1-3
8:49
8:40
8:35
Just about exactly as I'd planned. I worried that I was breathing too hard in the first mile. I did pass 3 college girls in gnome costumes taking selfies. One of them had eaten a quesadilla for breakfast and was feeling it. Another was worried about having to make a potty stop. In mile 2, I decided to stop worrying about how far I had left and just run the current mile. And I was feeling OK. Breathing a bit heavy, but not really getting worse. Knees up, shoulders down, keep going. I kept an eye on Man U guy at every turn (and there were a lot of them). He was not too far back, and I knew he had a good kick.
The leader passed me coming back, and he was a guy from our local running club. Nice! I came to the turnaround, and realized that the course was a bit different than it had been last year.
Miles 4-5
8:45
8:31
I hadn't seen anybody (going my direction) since the turn around. I was tiring but feeling strong at that point. Mile 5 beeped, and I was ready to give it all I had towards the finish! Then a course volunteer called out a turn that I wasn't expecting. In fact, I had already run a couple steps past it. We headed back into a park when I was expecting to head straight towards the finish. This just mentally deflated me for some reason. Was I off course? Was this the 15K now? Were we going to have to do another loop of the park? It just seemed overwhelming. I lost my rhythm.
But at least it wasn't a whole loop. Just a bit of and out-and-back to pad the distance. But it was a right turn, over the bridge, turn left, cross the street, turn left, around the curve, over the bridge, turn right. Ugh! My momentum was gone. I waved to Man U guy who has heading over the bridge into the park as I was headed out. It didn't look like he was going to catch me today, but I knew he had a good kick.
I tried to pick it up as much as I could. I was tired, but it was really like I just didn't have a rhythm anymore. And I was by myself again, except that now I was passing the back of the 5K on the narrow trail.
I came back into downtown. We were coming to another turn right at the end of mile 6. There was a pack of 5Kers and we were going to get to the turn at about the same time. Then some cyclists came by on the left, and I was going to be boxed out at the turn. I said, "seriously guys, it's the end of a race", and one of them held back to let me keep running through the turn. I thanked him and headed on.
Mile 6
8:43
Now we were coming up on the finish, and what's this? Another surprise turn, WTF guys? This time, you turn left, run past the finish, then turn right, then turn right again towards the finish line. There was a mom and her son finishing up the 5K. They were on pace to finish just ahead of me, and everyone was calling out not to change position over the finish line (no chips, just pull tags). But the kid put on the brakes way before the finish, and in my position there was no real option other than to slow down suddenly to let them cross.
Still, I ended up with 53:28 gun time, 3/10 40-49 woman, and 8th place overall. I'm feeling pretty good about the run. I am not quite in PR shape, but my splits are pretty consistent and I'm starting to get the hang of things again. Give me another couple months of consistent training, and then I will try to step on the gas a bit. For comparison's sake, my time at this race last year was 54:01, but the course was a tad different.
There were no AG awards, but I did get a tomato plant and a medal. I talked a bit to Man U guy, who never even came up to challenge me this time. Apparently he hasn't been running much lately because of an injury. So we congratulated each other, and I'm sure we'll meet again soon. Then I bought a few more plants for my garden, ran a short cool down, and headed home.
Wow, I got tired just reading that. Nice running, and so close to your PR. Glad Man U wasn't a threat today. The tomato plant is a cute prize.
Wow, I got tired just reading that.
I still need to learn how to be brief. But thanks!
I didn't mean the length. I meant that reading about your running 10K at that pace wore me out!
All those out and backs and turns would really slow you down, plus the combined races. Wait until you get a less complicated course, you'll really fly! Eighth overall is terrific and 3rd AG is great. Congratulations. Looks like the 40 year old ladies were in control today if you had three out of the top eight spots! No gnome pictures?
Little Blue- I figured that was what you meant, but I still don't need to write a novel every time. It's funny, it still seems overwhelming to go out and run 6 miles at sub-9, although apparently I'm perfectly capable of it. That was the decision I came to in mile 2, to just run that mile instead of worrying about the others. Last year, I got sucked into the "I can't do it, I have so far to go" a lot more.
The 40 year old ladies did well. The two who beat me are also members of our running club, and they run in the speedy AM group. In checking the results, it looks like a few more AG finishers came in after I got my printout, so I'm now 3/10 AG. And poor Man U was almost a minute back. I bet he's coming for me next time.
There aren't a lot of photos up yet, but there are these:
These kids (or ones in the same costume, the photo was from a previous year) won the kids' 1K, and did cartwheels over the finish line:
Here are some gnomes from this year:
I'll post more photos if I see any good ones later.
Congrats! Not far from your PR and still a great performance.
Damaris
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I haven't raced a 10K since last spring. I'm not really training for anything right now, just sort of trying to race now and again to get a sense of where I am, fitness-wise. I wasn't 100% sure what that would look like, numbers-wise, but figured I might be close to my PR
I haven't raced a 10K since last spring. I'm not really training for anything right now, just sort of trying to race now and again to get a sense of where I am, fitness-wise.
I wasn't 100% sure what that would look like, numbers-wise, but figured I might be close to my PR
+1 to all this for my 10k yesterday. And you wrote enough of an RR for both of us, so I don't need to bother.
Sucks about the crazy ending - that's the last thing you need when you are making the final push. In mine, nothing quite like that, but it did change from wide open roads for 5 miles to merging with 5k finishers for the last mile, which involved a lot of snaking through crowds of slower runners.
Overall you had an excellent race, with very consistent splits. I know you have battled some demons with racing in general - I don't see any of that here. Hopefully this gives you more confidence to keep pushing the pace, I know you have a lot more speed in you.
Dave
Nice job! That sounds like a well thought out course.
PRs:
5k - 20:51 - 9/5/15
10k - 47:00 - 5/25/15
15k - 1:10:19 - 11/21/15
13.1 - 1:42:25- 4/25/15
26.2 - TBD (someday)
D- Thanks!
Dave- This does NOT let you off the hook for writing a RR! Plus you DID PR, unlike me. Are you waiting until you get the win to write one up? I think I have some faster race times in me as well, but for now I'm just not ready to really red-line it, I don't think. I'm able to race without collapsing and getting passed by every single person on the course, so that's a start. I am not a fan of 10Ks that run into the back of 5K races at the end, especially if the course is narrow.
cjones- Actually, I think they put a lot of thought into the course. It was "how can we manage to not close a single road for this race?"
Super B****
Oh, I hate courses that make you pass the finish line and then come back to it -- they're sadistic!! Great job on getting so close to your PR.
chasing the impossible
because i never shut up ... i blog
Zel, your splits are always so good, wish I could do that. Congrats and thanks for sharing!
Very nicely done Zel! You will get that PR on a less curvy course. All those bunched up 5K people didn't help either, I'm sure. Love the gnome costumes people were wearing.
Life is good.
I think you ran a great race! Your splits look really good. 6.2 miles at under 9 pace is nothing to sneeze at! Well done.
And I totally feel your pain on unexpected turns on the course. That happened to me in my HM last month and it was screwing up my rhythm too.
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)
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Nice going beating the Man U guy. Congrats on 3rd place even if there wasn't an award.