Road Racing and Training Thread - Week Ending 3/27/2022

Sorry to hear it OR. I have faith you'll get to the line and perform admirably.

hhw- Thanks to you, too. You guys are energizing me--and getting my mind off of my problems. Bless you...

I've been lurking in the shadows a bit more recently.

Thought you'd like a race report from my 10k this past weekend.

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The Race

We were off after a mess of a start, where they lined us up at least 20 feet behind the actual start line, which had a timing mat all of ten feet wide. They didn’t allow us to walk up to it, so all of us had to shoot that ten-foot gap or run the risk of running smack-dab into the barricades.

Right from the jump, I could tell it was either going to be a tandem effort between myself and a teammate (Will), working together from the front and pushing each other to PRs on a great day for running – or be another solo mission. There was no middle ground. And after looking at the results, a guy who kept up with us for the first 600m fell off and eventually finished third, some three minutes behind us. Then, about 400m after Will and I shed Mr. Third Place, I saw that we were woefully under pace (5:25, rather than 5:10-5:15) and picked up the tempo. Will didn't go with me.

Little did I know that it would prove to be the decisive move for the race.

From 1k to the finish line, I'd be a lone wolf.

I split the first mile in 5:14^, which fell within the desired range, but on the higher side.

It usually takes me about 1 mile to settle into a rhythm with a 10k (and probably the first 5k or so in a half marathon and 5 miles in a full marathon), but that didn’t happen here. Midway through the second mile, I felt a sudden sense of complacency and let my foot off the gas. I allowed my mind to wander. I didn’t hear any other footsteps, had the lead police vehicle in front of me and listened closely to the cheers to figure out how much distance I had on Will.

By the time I snapped out of it, I split the second mile in 5:18. That shook me.

My focus snapped back and felt myself slowly hitting that groove.

I split the third mile in 5:10, which put me through 3 miles in 15:42.

The gap behind grew wider, because the cheers were softer.

“OK,” I thought. “We’re here. Let’s get to work.”

I split the fourth mile in 5:09, which relaxed me a bit more.

“That’s more like it, kid,” I thought. “Keep grinding.”

I split the fifth mile in 5:07, which put me through 5 miles in 25:58.

“You just have 1.2 miles to go,” I thought. “Finish this.”

At some point during the sixth mile, I let my foot off the gas again. I wish I knew why.

The sixth mile eventually came through in 5:13, which all but dashed my sub-32 dreams.

When I saw the finish line from a distance, I revved it up again.

The day before the race, my coach texted me the race plan and at the end of it, said, “32:20 is 5:12, I think you stay around there, and you should be good. Hoping for 32 low.”

I finished in 32:21 (32:24 on the official results, since they decided to use gun time and not chip time when we crossed the true start, which is funny, because they made a big deal of it when someone walked across that very timing mat just a few minutes before the start). Will came through about 20 seconds later and two more of our teammates finished in the top-10, too.

^Splits are according to Strava. I didn't split each mile, rather put my watch on elapsed time and pace and went by feel. Probably a foolhardy move on my end, but since it worked so well for me the previous week in the half marathon, I thought I'd continue that vibe on Saturday.

Overall Thoughts

A win is a win is a win, but I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t want miles 2 and 6 back.

I left at least 15-20 seconds on the course between those two miles. That’s the difference between a shot at sub-32 and/or taking down my collegiate PR of 32:06, which I ran on the track in 2006.

All told, though, this was my second-fastest post-collegiate 10k behind my 32:15 PR, set last April at the Indiana Spine Group 10k in Carmel, Indiana. I can’t be too upset missing that by six seconds (or so) in a near solo effort. I find that when racing the 10k distance, in particular, my best times are when I'm working alongside other runners or trying to chase someone down.

Next up is the Crescent City Classic 10k on April 16, where the depth of competition should be much stronger than any other recent race outside of my two marathons. You better believe I’ll try to take back each of those precious seconds I foolishly stranded on the streets of Mobile, Alabama.

Some comments:

HHW: Huge volume, especially the mid-week 23.

Stone: Good luck on Saturday, all systems look ready to go. Sorry again to hear about your wife’s injury. It sucks to put all the work in and then not be able to see the result.

CarlyRae: A well-earned down week after the impressive race last weekend! Any goal time for the 5k?

Sub 6: Very impressive result, especially for your first result in 2+ years. Am I reading correctly that you lead the non-elite race?

GNR1: Another very good week. Any goals for the upcoming 5k’s?

Allen: Your determination is commendable, as always. How big of a long run is your son planning to build to before the race?

OR: You are ready to throw down a good race. Try to push the negative thoughts back and get to the starting line. Once there, you will know what to do.

Slow Miles, Slower Bests: Impressive triple! Is the steeple going to be your main event this season?

Darkwave: Great to see you getting your groove back! The race results will come.

BHViking: Crazy vert, as always.

Notarobot: Good luck with the 10k. Sub-36 is within reach with careful pacing.

Thoughtsleader: Definitely good to be hitting your stride now, rather than heading the other direction. Think you can definitely throw down a good performance in Boston.

AFF: You are putting in the work to run a great marathon. Take the lessons you learned from NYC and use them to your advantage at Boston.

Beers: Well-earned down week before making the final push to Boston. Any more tuneup races planned?

Just have Choo Choo 9 miler this sunday. Have an easy 10 miler on saturday and coach just wants me to run between 5:20-25 for the race. Should be enough to win it I think or top 2 or 3. Really just getting a mark on the board for this race series I signed up for.

jmar227, would love a 15:30 🤷‍♂️

jmar227 I'm happy to report I just finished my first track workout of the year and it went pretty well! 3x3x800 all 2:40.X or under. 60 seconds walking rest between reps and 2:30 between sets. I would honestly be thrilled if I could run this same pace and click off a bunch of 80 second laps this Saturday and walk away with a 16:40. That would be my fastest 5K (by about 30 seconds!) since my junior year of college way back in 2010. That will get really tough after a mile or so but I think that's how 5K's are supposed to go lol.

Good luck in your half on Saturday! I'm already looking forward to reading your and everyone else's race reports.

jmar227 Yeah, the steeple will be my main priority. Racing a flat 3k this weekend and in about a month should have my second one under my belt.

jmar: Thanks for the comments. I always appreciate when folks invest the time to give feedback to the gang here ... even though I haven't been disciplined enough to write much, myself.

My son has a 20-mile run on his schedule. He found a very low mileage plan online, but has been adding miles. We'll probably run one 20-miler together.

OR: Hope you get things sorted out, and can toe the line. The sh!t has hit the fan here, too, workwise (plus medical stuff), and I may not get a single run in this week. Ugh. It's a crucial week, with just 8 to go before the marathon. Only five weeks to the HM.

Some comments...

Stone: Good luck man. Has been really nice to see you build back up. Looks like you have some good momentum going into this race as well as your next cycle.

Carly: Good luck in the 5k.

Sub6: Already said it but really really nice HM on a tough course. Looks perfectly executed.

GNR: I think you can run faster than 15:30

Allen: Killer 18 miler.

OR: You got this man.

Slower Miles: Nice first meet. Curious.. how much improvement do you think you have in steeple just by getting better at the event vs fitness gains?

Darkwave: Solid week. I wouldn't read too much into that minute. Too many variables.

BH: Nice 17 miler.

Robot: 36 seems like the perfect target.

JMar: Good luck in the HM.

Thoughtleader: Nice week. This is always the time of year that I start clicking as well. Something about slightly warmer weather and no ice I think.

Average: Good solid week. What is marathon pace? That is a big spread.

Beers: Excited to see your Boston result. I have to believe 2:2x is very much reasonable outcome.

Tyler: You have been killing it recently. So nice to see your stuff moving quickly in the right direction.

Tyler, holy crap. I'll say a win is a win. Don't let perfection be the enemy of very very very very very good! :)

I very much appreciate the comments. Yes, Allen, things seem to go haywire at all the wrong times. Best of success to you, my friend. And jmar, you said it very, very well…you gave me good, common sense advice. No real race in a long while, but I have been doing this for years now, and as our friend runnergirl (where are you?) would say, “OR is a natural marathoner.” Will keep that in mind.

May go out for my final run this afternoon…then take both tomorrow and Friday off. Saw in my log that I took two days off before Harrisburg 2020, my last marathon. Will see…

Forgot to note…I went out this morning and bought my $12.98 throw-away sweat pants, and so I gather this means I will run the race…

@jmar: Thanks, yeah I'm staying optimistic too. Ultimately I've done more quality than I did before Bay State 2019. More work on the hills, more mileage overall, and tempo stuff as well. It wasn't as smooth health-wise, but that's on the upswing

@HHW: Yes, I think clear roads/trails and more sunlight are huge. It does make me wonder what the best time for a goal race in the Northeast is then. Summer and winter provide unique challenges. Maybe a goal race in May/June is best.

@Tyler: That's a helluva race, and you're definitely going to get those seconds back when the burden of keeping the pace isn't all on you. Pretty impressive to me you were almost pulling it off as it was.

I do get some FOMO from seeing all of the races people are doing. Definitely going to race more frequently post-marathon if I bounce back well. Probably mile -10K in length.

Last little rust buster…7.13 at 6:37 overall…7:18.5, 6:53.7, 6:30.6, 6:41.6, 6:33.4, 6:24.3, 6:04.3, 45.8. A tough southerly wind and mile 4 was straight into it and on a gradual incline.

Marathon pace is hopefully around 6:20-6:15. In the end, I’m only hoping to be better and fitter than I was before

It's so weird to try marathon pace again. Workout yesterday was 3 mile warmup, 2 @ MP, 3 minute jog, 6 x 1 min hill repeats, 3 minute jog, 2 @ MP, 5K cooldown.

Coach wanted to toss some hill stuff ahead of Boston. Ended up doing my MP stuff on some rolling terrain too. Hit 5:31/5:29 then felt pretty strong on the minute hill repeats (Paces: 4:59, 4:56, 5:02, 4:48, 4:32, 5:01). Finished it off with a 5:26, 5:23.

I think I have a bit of a game plan for Boston this year now. I'm extremely desperate to finally break 2:30 that I'm just going to hold off for at least 6 miles. I know I'm going to want to run in the 5:30s but I'm gonna keep it right at 5:40 for quite a bit before making my move over the second half. If I can't move faster over the second half and stay consistent I'll still be under 2:30.

That seems like a solid game plan. Keep it relaxed through 6-7 miles since you'll have about 6 miles of downhill running in your legs by then. Once you hit the flats around 6.5 miles, start rolling.

Just found out that my hotel, which is nice and close to the start, is pet-friendly. I am allergic. Scrambling now to find another room. Do not want to be more than a half-mile walk to the start, though. Everything is probably booked anyway...