After the legs started taking a pounding with all the mileage last week, I took Saturday off. I needed to get some rest before this race. I was hoping to break 40 minutes and figured that I could do so on a flat course. This course is very hilly, as I learned on the preview run the other day. I figured that running a sub 40 could be tough. I haven't run many 10k races, so at least I knew I'd run a PR.
My friend Flo was doing this crazy Winter Death Race in Vermont. When I saw that she was leading the female division, I didn't sleep too well because I was excited to hear how she'd do. She is amazing and when I woke up before my alarm, I saw that she finished in second place! I was hoping to use that as inspiration if I needed it in this race.
The great thing with this race is that so many friends either run it or volunteer. I talked to many of them before it and many of them after it was over. Sharing this even with friends makes it all the more worthwhile.Since it is February, the weather is often iffy for this event. With the winter we are having, I was surprised that that wasn't the case. It was super warm and around 40 degrees. I knew I'd be able to run in shorts and that would be a huge help. I actually had to dig through my bag and get a lighter long sleeve shirt because my ColdGear top was too heavy. I was worried when I had to wear a Delaware Canal Half Marathon event shirt. That was my worst half ever. I didn't wear a hat or gloves.
I could kind of tell it was going to be a good day when I warmed up. The legs felt fast and fresh. They aren't used to me taking the day before a race off. I guess they were thanking me.
The race starts near the LVRR Clubhouse. It has a nice and wide starting line. I was about in the middle of the group. I figured that I'd probably be in the Top 20. There was some traffic at the start and I ran a little quicker to get through it. The first 3/4 of a mile is nice and flat.
I settled in early and got into a groove. The pace felt kind of easy. Some other people were breathing heavily, but I wasn't. I looked at my watch and saw that it was a 5:48 pace. I knew that that would slow down though. There was a lead pack of probably about 7 runners or so that was pulling away little by little. They were too fast for me to run with.
I ended up behind a young kid and a woman. I figured I'd sit back and let them control the pace. After exiting the Parkway, it's a tough uphill climb. We ran together and came through mile 1 at 6:20. That was a few seconds faster than goal pace, but I knew some of the other hills would slow me down.
I don't remember when exactly it occurred, I think on the second hill, but the young guy and I passed the woman. I should note that she was the lead woman. Rarely do I finish ahead of all the women in a race.
I continued to stay with him as he was running a nice pace. Those early hills weren't too bad. They were tough and caused me to breath a little harder, but all in all, I sailed over them. The tricky thing is that even when you climb into the neighborhood, it is still rolling hills.
Most of the first half of this race is uphill and most of the second half is downhill. I knew if I stayed solid early on, I would finish strong. Again, I stayed right on the guy's heels. There was no reason to even attempt to pass him. Why not let him do all of the work? Maybe I should've offered to switch spots off and on, but you never know if someone is going to be strong or fall back. I didn't know if we would run together the entire race.
I really enjoyed the short downhill portions through the neighborhood. Mile 2 was a 6:19. Things got a little tougher at mile 3. There was more uphill and I started to slip a bit. I was still matching strides with the young guy. This mile slowed to 6:29. I was running under mile goal time by a second, so I was happy. With a lot of the 2nd half of the course downhill, this is a good course to negative split (something I've rarely done).
There was a tough little hill as we finished up this small loop. Then, we arrived back on the road that we had started on. A lot of the field was going out as we were going back. I had about 3 or 4 friends yell "Go Brian" or "Good job Brian" as I was passing them going the other direction. The young guy in front of me said, "I guess I'm running with Brian." I said, "Haha, yeah I'm sorry, I have a lot of friends in this race."
Having everyone encouraging me was a big boost. I tried to acknowledge most of them. After some time, it became almost overwhelming. It seemed like 30 people said something to me. I figured the kid must be getting annoyed and probably really wanted to finish ahead of me.
Speaking of people yelling encouragement. I heard someone yell to the woman behind me, "Go Carolyn. You're the favorite." I was surprised to hear that because I figured it was Carolyn Dunham and I didn't think I was fast enough to finish ahead of her. I guess she was the woman I passed in the beginning. I know her face, but didn't recognize her from behind.
Thanks to the downhill and all my friends, mile 4 was a 6:18. I was back on track. I had come through the halfway point a little faster than I had wanted to, around a 19:30, so I wasn't sure if I'd hold up. By now, I wanted to stay consistent and just finish up where I was at. The pace continued to slowly drop. It was around 6:20. I figured that in my head, I had quite a few seconds available to slip up if I needed it. I also had the inspiration that Flo provided with her big race earlier, if I needed it. I thought about it on one uphill early on, but actually I didn't need it after that point.
I came through mile 5 with a 6:19. This was easily the toughest mile too. First, I had a really nice downhill and the young guy gave me an opening around the turn, so I took it. I figured I might as well go with the flow and enjoy it. Then came the last climb. Up until now, I didn't have to work too much on the hills. This one started to kill me though. My legs were losing it and I could feel that I was being pressured.
I eventually got passed on the hill. Much to my surprise, it was another young guy. It turns on it was a local high school kid that was a state cross country qualifier. I didn't know where the original guy was. I pressed on. What destroyed me wasn't so much this first hill, but after it, things leveled out briefly before another short uphill. This really took its toll on my legs. I knew I had to push through.
The young guy that I passed earlier had went back by me on the downhill. He tried to encourage me to try to catch the other guy. He did that and I tried to stay with them, but I didn't have enough left in the tank at that point. Plus, I was now around a 6:19 pace and well under my goal.
I just wanted to cruise on in. I mean I was still pushing hard, but not killing myself and giving everything I had. I figured that I would probably run about a 19:30. The last half mile seemed so long. It is cool running under the Lights in the Parkway lights, but you can see the finish area from so far out. That provides quite the challenge.
I ran on in at a decent clip. When I got close enough to see the clock, I was surprised. It was still slightly under 39 minutes. I didn't think I was that close to 39 minutes or perhaps I would've pushed even more in the last mile. I had come through mile 6 at a 6:10 pace though.
I watched the clock tick a few seconds over 39 minutes. I finished up quite exhausted at 39:07. I crushed my PR and even beat my expectations by a good chunk. I can't really believe that 3 months ago, I couldn't even break 20 minutes in a 5k. Now, I can do that easily for twice the distance and on a hilly course no less. I'm definitely the fastest and in the best shape of my life right now.
I enjoyed interacting with friends after their race. As usual, some did good and others not so good. That's the beauty of races. Thankfully, I've had more good races than bad lately. I'm looking forward to next month's half marathon. I signed up hoping for bad weather, but now I'm looking for good weather or at least respectable weather. I want to not only run my PR, but crush it.
I did finish ahead of all the females in the race. I took 3rd in my age group and was 12th overall out of 487 runners. I hung around for the awards, not knowing if I was fast enough to get one, but I was glad when I did. This was a fairly competitive 10k field. I actually don't care that much for the Super Bowl itself, but all around this was a great day thanks to what I achieved, what others achieved and who I saw. It's what makes running so great.
I hope I can recover well by tomorrow. I'd like to run 15-18 easy
miles again. If I can do that, I'll take Tuesday off completely. That many miles could be tough. I won't force it. I'll see how I feel and run accordingly. It's a fine line to dance with training enough and training too much.
6.2 miles - 39:07 (6:18 pace)
Splits 6:20, 6:19, 6:29, 6:18, 6:19, 6:10
12th of 487 overall, 3rd age group
No comments:
Post a Comment