Executive Summary 1:26:39, 32/90 OA, 4/15 AG.  That's 24 seconds slower than the same race on the same course last year.

I am training for a half marathon which is 4 weeks away.  I'm following a Pfitz plan, but I added miles to the early weeks, so I have been sitting at peak mileage (50) for about 4 weeks now.  This week, the plan starts to cut mileage, and also calls for an 8-10K tune up race.  Instead, I ran a 10 mile race, because it's put on by my employer (the school district), and is a huge community event in the town where I work.  Last year I ran the same tune up race, and followed the same training plan (but without the added mileage), and the 10 miler turned out to be my best race of the year (since I ended up messing up my knee in the HM).  So I was really hopeful that lightning would strike twice this year.

Prerace: I got to the race early for my warmup, and met a woman there who had camped in their van in the parking lot overnight with her son and her dog so they could run the 5K.  It was below freezing that night!  I should have asked her more to figure out whether she was coming from out of town, or what their story was.  Hopefully they had a good race!

The 10 miler started at 8, and the 5K at 8:15.  A bunch of people from my work were participating, so we were supposed to meet for a group photo at 7:45.  Right in the middle of prime warmup time!  So I ran 2 miles with strides before then, with the plan to do a few more strides right before the start.  Except that the 5Kers were lazy and didn't show up on time.  My boss was there (she was also running the 10 milers with her husband and brother), one coworker with her family, and a couple other people.  I waited around until like 7:50, but then bailed to finish my warmup.

Conditions were perfect- 39 degrees and sunny at the start. I brought a handheld water bottle and a gel, but didn't take the gel and only ended up wanting a few sips of water.

Start: The start felt good.  I was having to dial my pace back since I wanted to run about 8:40 for the first mile, and then head into the 8:30s and hope to see the 8:20's by the end.  I was running easy and loose.  We went over the bridge on the Willamette for the first time, and I made sure to enjoy the sun's reflection over the water.  I tried to keep my effort the same over the bridge and let my pace drop.  Even so, I passed a couple of people on the bridge.  We then came off the bridge and did a little loop through downtown, and I passed a couple more people.   With the slowdown for the bridge, I was off pace a bit, but decided to gradually get back up to pace rather than worry about the mile split that was coming up.

Mile 1- 8:48

At this point I settled into my pace and my position.  There weren't really a lot of people around me, whereas last year I was by somebody pretty much the whole time.  It made me feel like I was a lot faster than the year before since I was ahead of the main pack.  But really, there were fewer runners this year and they were slower.  One of the course volunteers here was a retired admin who I've worked with on a couple of committees, so I said hello.

Mile 2- 8:32

Mile 3- 8:38

Now I started to doubt myself.  Could I really hold this pace for 10 miles?  I tried to remind myself that this was normal to feel that way during a race, just keep going.

Mile 4-  8:41

Mile 5- 8:39

At the mile marker were 3 guys who were directing us to turn, and one of them had a silver coat on.  There had been 3 guys, and one of them in the same silver coat back near the start, so I said, "Hey, you guys again!  Am I running backwards?"  They were confused.  Must have just been a similar looking guy with the same coat.

I passed a guy who I'd been gaining on for the last mile or so, and a girl about a half mile later

Mile 6- 8:31

Here is where I had a hard time keeping up my pace and my spirit.  I had been feeling like I was working hard since about the 3rd mile, and it still seemed so far from the finish.  I now didn't have anybody in sight through this part either.  I alternated between telling myself I could make up the time towards the end, or not caring whether I was behind pace anyway, I just wanted it to stop.  Super whiny mode!

Mile 7- 8:47

Mile 8- 8:49

I got passed by a couple of people in there.  At least not the same people who I had passed earlier.

OK, just two more miles.  I can be uncomfortable for 2 miles.  I know I can.  So at least I'm going to finish the race, hehe!  Step it up!  Step it up!  I tried to rally, and was sort of successful.  I said hi to the chair of the schoolboard, who was out directing traffic.  I also passed the retired admin guy, and he gave me a high-5.

Mile 9- 8:38

Last mile!  You can do this.  Run hard!  My legs did not want to run hard, but I sped up a bit.  Then I hit that damn bridge.  I had to keep reminding myself to stay upright and not hunch over, but man was I out of gas.  I was so tired that a woman passed me right before the top, and I didn't even think about whether she was in my age group or not.  I was just thinking about getting over the bridge.  And about how I hated whoever wrote the course description about the course "meandering" over the Willamette river.  And about how Awood suggested that I could swim the river if I was too tired to run the bridge.

But then I was over the top, and it was all downhill to the finish!  Maybe .4 of a mile of open road.  Nice!  Still didn't have much of a kick, but I did run faster, and I was working hard.

Mile 10- 8:33.

Then I was done!  My official chip time was 1:26:39. But they had some sort of electronic chip reader, no mats, so I wonder if it just recorded the times at the end, not at the start?

I rested for a bit until I was cool, and then ran a mile cooldown.  I did that during my 5K a couple of weeks ago, but pretty much right after the race, and felt really good after the race and the next day.  So I was wondering if it would help here, too.  It felt like hell.  Next time, if I do run a cooldown, I won't wait until my muscles are all the way cold before I do it!

All in all, not a great race for me.  I think it's telling me that I have been training harder than what I've been able to recover from.  Since the race was longer than the one in my plan, I will take it extra easy this week, and then have one more solid training week before starting my actual taper.  Hopefully the benefits from this race, plus taking some extra recovery, will still get me to where I will be able to PR in my HM.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! You actually ran a really, really good race.  You have such high standards, i think sometimes, you forget celebrate how well you're doing.  YOu're in the middle of a VERY hard training program, and even tired managed to run a speedy race that anybody could be proud of.  I KNOW you're going to do fantastic in your half.

Personally, I think this is more how you should be feeling:

Zel, that looks pretty good to me. The fact that you had just barely enough at the end to make mile 10 nearly your fastest is I think the way you want to finish. It's just a tuneup anyway; for the goal race you will be all fresh & tapered & ready to kill it.

Are you willing to share your goal time for the HM?

I agree with everything She Can said.  You nearly PR'ed doing a tune-up race on tired legs, you finished the race strong, and you did well in the standings.  That's an excellent race by my measure.  Now, it's time to rest those legs up for your goal HM!

Zel, you rock, great race!

Thanks to everyone for the congratulations.  I guess part of it is that I'm still chasing that elusive euphoric feeling that comes from running a great race.  It happened twice last year, once in this race and once in one of my fall 10Ks.  Interestingly enough, neither of them was a goal race.  I showed up to both with hopes but not really expectations.  I wonder if that might be the key for me, is just to show up and run my best without putting a lot of pressure on myself?

Cheri- Love the picture!  But I think it applies more to YOU!

Dave- The main goal is to PR, so sub-1:55 would do it.  I kinda think I could do sub-1:52 on a good day, I think it's in reach if the stars line up right.  But that would be significantly faster than this race would indicate.

OOTB- Thanks!  Can't wait to read about your half!

LRB- I put in the bit about the cooldown more in the name of science.  I tried it after my 5K and felt great, so I thought what the heck, let's see what happens.  And it wasn't pretty.  But I had cooled down and even hit the massage table before I went back out.

Two other tidbits that I forgot to put in:

- I saw a THIRD guy with the same silver jacket a mile or two after the second!  I had to do a serious double-take.  Was there just a sale on that exact coat or something?

- I wore my new Virratas for the race.  I've only had them for a week but I am really happy with them.  They seem more flexible and a bit cushier than the Kinvaras that I usually wear.

Great running, Zelanie!  It's hard to really nail a race of that distance when it comes in the middle of training for an even longer distance.  I think you ran really well.  Honestly though, not being satisfied and wanting to do better are good things.  You deserve to cut yourself some slack though.  Keep your eyes on the prize.

Zel, don't be hard on yourself, you run a great race! Just look at your splits.