My training plan called for a 10k and the Magnusion Series which I did before (last time the 5k) conveniently fell on the same date. My previous PR for this distance is from Jan 29th 2012 where I covered the 10k in 38:11. (read more).
I knew the course and that it wasn’t the fastest, but I was still hoping for a PR. Especially after my coach gave me my race strategy to go out with 5:50-5:55min/mile and trying to hold on as long as possible. Knowing that I have a tendency to start too fast and that my coach time seemed aggressive I set my goal to run the first mile in a 6min/mile and than take it from there. Even though I performed well on previous races this fall, I haven’t seen the numbers I am used to. For example my fastest Z1 pace was 15-20sec slower per mile than the pace I ran at my Marathon at the IM Wisconsin. My coach told me to trust it and that HR data is not everything.
It was a cold rainy day and I was shivering standing on the starting line, but I knew that I would get warmer once I started running. The race director sent us off and 3 other runners quickly jumped in the lead. I knew one of them was doing the 5k but I wasn’t sure about the other two. Since they started much faster than my 6min/mile I had to let them go. My HR quickly went above 180 but I wasn’t worried, I knew that I had the durability to finish the race strong. I did the first mile in 6:07 which is pretty good considering the big hill we climbed. After a mile the guy in 3rd place looked back and I knew that it would be only a matter of time till I would catch him. Around mile 2 I was with him and he tried to stay with me but shortly after fell back. Close to 3 miles there was an 180 degree turn and I could see the first 2 and that they are both doing the 5k. So I knew I was leading the 10k. After I did the turn around I saw that the next 10K runner was couple hundred yards back already. So the race was mine, the only question remaining would it be a new PR?
I did the first 5K lap in around 18:40 and I knew that a PR would be very likely if I keep continuing with the same pace. I kept ticking off the miles each one a little faster than the previous ones. Eventually I was finally running towards the finish line. With a few hundred yards to go I saw the finisher clock and I read 36:30. I instantly had a new goal: I wanted to finish under 37min. So I started pushing harder and harder until I crossed the finish line in 36:49. A new PR!
I couldn’t stand anymore since I was short of air. I was pushing a 5min/mile for the last part and was clearly anaerobic. I was lying on the cold wet ground which felt great trying to catch my breath. One of the race organizers was concerned about me but Amy told them that I’ll be fine, which I obviously was.
I am very happy with this new PR which is a 82second improvement! 🙂
Race Result (Scroll down to the 10k results)
Wow! Congrats!