Notes
5:45, 5:58, 5:56, 6:01, 5:59 (8k - 29:25), 5:59 (10k 36:57 - new PR by 73 seconds), 6:06, 6:01, 6:14, 6:19 (10 Mile 1:00:24), 6:12, 6:16, 6:47 (1.1).
Forecast for this race was much better than anticipated. No wind, sunny at parts, but a swirling wind. Chose not to eat/drink coffee prior to this race so as to avoid any acid reflux/digestinal issues. First 1.5-2 I was running with the top female and some others like Hootman and lil' Bruyere and I made a decision to not go with their pack because I thought I might blow up later and thought their pack would come back to me. Think that was the right move. Just cruise control from that point until the 10K. One of the marathonners was trying to get me to run with him around the 4-5 mile mark, but I was just not ready to move forward. Once I hit the 10K, I fell asleep a little bit. I felt kind of in a daze when I saw how far ahead of my 10K Pr I was. The combination of that and the inclines/wind slowed me up a bit. Never really recovered from that. 9-12 were pretty rough. There were two or three guys that I was battling with back and forth who I ended up passing ultimately, but two or three people also passed me during this stretch.
Met up with Justice at the 10 mile and he helped me from blowing up. I could not run faster at this point than what I was doing. Aerobically, I felt great - there was no point where I was really laboring, but my legs were hurting big time. Last mile I picked it up a little bit with a good kick for the last 200 and a fist pump at the finish line for being sub 1:20.
Finally have had a race that I consider a success. Two weeks ago I was thinking sub-1:18 was possible, but the last two weeks have really been difficult for me. Between teaching/coaching/allergy season kicking in, I really struggled into this race. I was down on myself the week leading up. The day before the race I told myself no more negative thoughts, I'm just going to run and that is what I did. I still do not think I have really had an training period come all the way together start to finish (but who does, really?), but I am happy with how I overcame all the stressors I was dealing with. I learned a little bit about racing and feel good about the decisions I made as a whole. I think I have a good platform for growth - heck I was struggling running this pace for an 8k a couple years ago - which I think can bring me a bit closer to some of these other guys that I would like to be able to compete with.
I think I need an adjustment in my training in that I need to know how to run through leg fatigue. I never really had a workout where I ran past the point of comfort -- too many other variables to account for I suppose. But, my downfalls in the marathon have been just combatting that emergent leg pain. Here, I did better, but I think I can handle those 9-12 miles better. So, I'll work on that and keep getting better. I'll look for something to do next fall. Will take the next couple days easy and try to get on the track for a 5k.