Notes
This is my third year running this event. They did change the course a bit from the last two years. Last time the course was too long; this year the first turning point was too early so it ended up being too short. Oh well, what matters to me now is pace and not the actual distance, especially since this distance is a bit of an anomaly anyway.
It was a nice morning for a race. Simon and I were unsure about whether or not we could get into the race since pre-race registration was closed. This race is part of our marathon training and I thought it would be nice to run a shorter distance, but faster pace together since we both have the quickness. A little bit of easy running afterwards to make it a 20k day.
Our race strategy was to go out at about a 4:00 pace and pick it up gradually to about a 3:55 pace later in the race. Given that we did not start right up front, the start was a bit slow, so getting around people in the first 500m slowed the pace to around 4:25, but we were able to pick it up to run a 4:06 first kilometer, before easing into our 4:00 pace. We kept this up for quite a bit and passed a few people here and there. Henrik, who started late and ended up winning the race in under 50 minutes, came up behind us and passed us a little before the 2k mark.
Pace felt good. I was glad to be running with Simon because we went out much more controlled than I might have gone, which definitely helped me in the second half. Still hard work in the second half, but very nice to have a running partner. Felt much better this year compared to last year. I was dead after 8k last year.
Kilometer splits (according to my watch):
4:06 / 3:57 / 3:58 / 4:02 / 4:03 / 3:57 / 3:58 /
4:00 / 4:00 / 3:55 / 3:55 / 3:55 / 4:00 / 2:50 (0.76k)