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.