This year, I've run 60% more miles, but I didn't seem to be any faster than last year (foreshadowing). So I came into the race not expecting much. My goal was to finish in 44:30, to at least show some improvement and, in a sense, win 3rd place from the year before. Obviously, AG placement is very dependent on who else chooses to race that day.
The course is super flat, and fairly boring, in my opinion. It mostly wanders through neighborhoods in town, and thankfully has enough turns that you can focus on the next corner rather than the runners pulling away from you out front. My strategy was to run as close to even 7:15 splits as possible for the first 4 miles or so, and then see what was left in the tank to make up a bit of time over the last few miles. I don't have a fancy GPS watch, so I have to rely on my mental math during the race, and my ability to remember where I was afterward to figure out what happened. Both years, I've learned that my brain quits working after 4 miles.
Mile 1: 7:25
I really didn't want to go out too fast, in which I succeeded. I stayed near other runners with the fancy watches to over hear them talking a bit about the pace just to make sure.
Mile 2: 14:33 / 7:08 mile / 7:18 pace
I tried really hard throughout the race to think about my form and run easy and light. I kept within site of a friend who ran it in 42:43 last year and has nice running form. Whenever I'd look up at him, I'd remember to relax and run correctly.
Mile 3: 21:40 / 7:07 mile / 7:13 pace
I seemed rather alone on the course during mile 3, but started making up ground on half a dozen runners who were about 100 yards ahead.
Mile 4: 28:40 / 7:00 mile / 7:10 pace
A friend of mine running the race said that this is about where he lost sight of me, but that throughout the race I looked like I was running effortlessly. I really appreciated this comment. I managed to work past 10 or so runners through miles 4 and 5, before once again ending up by myself. No one in front for a hundred yards, and no one behind that I was aware of. (Maybe they were there but running very quietly.)
Mile 5: ??:??
Brain shutting down. About all I could concentrate on at this point was my form and not letting myself take off early and running out of gas.
Mile 6: ??:??
I kept telling myself that at 40:00 I could kick it up a gear in effort and that's about what I did. I had to slow down slightly maybe about a third of a mile from the finish line, because I didn't think I could hold the increased pace, but I was still going pretty darn fast. I passed one more person with in the final hundred yards, and pulled even with another guy, but he wasn't going to let me past, and I didn't have anything left to push with. He beat me by 1 second. (But don't worry, turns out he was 17, and thus not in my AG.)
Finish: 43:08 / 6:57 pace
As I crossed the finish line, I didn't really grasp what I'd just done. I knew it was a significant improvement over the year before, but I couldn't remember the exact time. I also couldn't even begin to divide 43:08 by 6.2 to calculate the pace. (I have a degree in physics and love to do math problems like this in my head. The easy way is to know that it was somewhere around a 7:00 pace, so start with 7:00 * 6.2 = (7*6)+(7*0.2) = 42 + (7*1/5) = 42 + 7/5 = 43 + 2/5 = 43:24. From there I was 16 seconds faster and 16 seconds over 6.2 miles is about 2 or 3 seconds, so I was at about a 6:57 pace. But, in my stupor, I couldn't do the math, nor could I even think of a way to do the math.) I got some food and water, and it wasn't until I was talking to a friend who told me I'd gone under 7 minute miles. I was very surprised. The math on the final 2.2 miles is that I did them in about 14:28, which is a 6:35 pace. I'm still puzzled by that number, because it doesn't seem reasonable, but apparently I did it. Hooray!
The official results are:
43:08 10k -- PR by 1:27
9th out of 265 overall
9th out of 129 men (where were all the fast women this year?)
2nd out of 26 AG (30-34)
After my race, I gave myself 45 minutes to tighten up, and then did a 1-mile run with Julia. She ran the entire time and finished in 10:23, which was about 3 minutes faster than I anticipated. About three quarters of the way through she looked up at me and said "this is kinda fun!". Afterward she asked if she could run the 5k next year. I told her she'd have to wait for a few years . . .
2 comments:
Pretty sure Julia runs almost as fast I do and my legs are a lot longer :) Sounds like she will be another runner in your family. Way to go on your PR. Brett and I ran a 5k a couple of weeks ago and it was a personal low for both of us. I guess we need to get back on the running horse.
I'm not much of an equestrian, but I think you should wait until the horse stops before attempting to climb back on.
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