Notes
Super short version:
Goal - sub-40
Stretch goal - sub-38:30
Result - Not worthy of mentioning (41:57 if you really must know)
Not-so-short version:
I raced my first 10k of the year on Saturday. Just having nailed a sub-1:29 half 3 weeks prior without any speedwork, and also based on some recent training feedback, I thought the question was not could I hit sub-40, but by how much? Well, I felt great after my warmup, but it ended up being one of my most brutal races ever.
Here's how it played out:
1k - 3:56 - perfect
2k - 4:03 - Saying to myself, that's fine, I'm just getting into a groove. A guy also yelled out my 1 mile split as 6:53 which I was quite pleased with.
3-4k - 8:15 - Still got time to make it up
5-6k - 8:18 - Okay, let's just go for sub-41 today. There was a runner down just passed the 6k mark but he was already being helped so I pressed on.
7k - 4:14 - Starting to feel cr@ppy
8k - 4:24 - It was pretty windy from kms 7-9 but that's no excuse. I already blew the race by around the 4-5k mark.
9k - 4:28 - I feel like I'm towing a boat.
10k - 4:25 - I outkicked a man 1.5 times my age! I'm so awesome!! Hahaha!!
Final time: 41:57
I don't feel as bad as I did at the finish line, having taken more than a full minute longer than my time last year when I feel that I'm in much greater shape today. It was just a bad day even though I thought I felt good at the start. I guess I was just overly cocky thinking that 40 minutes would be a walk in the park.
Now I'm contemplating taking another stab at it in 2 weeks, or to get in 4 solid weeks of training before my 8k (which I will still do even if I do the 10k in 2 weeks). If I don't go for it in 2 weeks, then my next and final attempt for the year will be my goal race in October. I'm fine with stacking all my cards in one deck. I'm going to see how I feel and decide early next week. Feel free to give your opinion of whether or not I should try again 2 weeks later.
Amazingly, I had one of my best runs in a long time yesterday. 10 miles @ 8:22 with the last 4 at around 7:30. Today's 7-miler felt even better.