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Basic stats:<br>
66:42 for 10 miles (6:40/mile pace)<br>
101/544 OA<br><br>
So far in 2008 my training has been primarily focused on April and the Boston Marathon. But as I've said many times in the past, marathons are not my strongest distance, but rather 10-milers are. So when the opportunity came to race in a 10-miler with an extra bump of competitive intensity added, I couldn't resist. Moreover, I decided in the week prior to actually treat this race like a target and come into it ready for an optimum performance. That meant, instead of "training through" the race, I actually stepped back a little bit, only doing one hard workout in the week leading up to the race.<br><br>
A little bit on the race itself. This was a "club challenge" 10-miler, a team race scored very similar to a cross country race. Thus, my team, the DC Roadrunners, traveled an hour north to Columbia to lock horns with some of the best running clubs in Maryland. The home club, Howard County Striders, was particularly ready for this, bringing out a large group that featured many of their best racers. The same was true for all the Maryland clubs, and it made our contingent of 21 look like real underdogs in this.<br><br>
The weather on Sunday morning was quite chilly and it was an early start to boot. I rose at 5:30 am and, having wisely set the coffee pot the night before, quickly dressed had some java, some water and oatmeal, and was out the door to meet my fellow carpoolers in Vienna, VA at 6:15. We got up to Columbia about 7:15, beating most of the rush and we are able to check in and get our numbers without any trouble. I stretched inside the gym of the community college where the race was based and did a few warmup drills inside, deciding to stay out the cold until it was time.<br><br>
Before long we headed out to the start area. I got in a couple of race pace strides and felt ready. As we got into position a guy said "hi" and we realized that we had both finished back-to-back a few weeks earlier in the DCRRC 20k championship race. Since today we were both running for the club we decided to run together and pace each other, hoping to break 70 minutes. I wasn't sure it would happen, though, because I had heard this course was brutally hilly.<br><br>
The gun went off and though we were a few rows back there was little congestion at the start, because this race was full of fast people. Clearly every club wanted to make a good showing here. The first mile went downhill a bit but even so I was surprised to look at my watch and see 6:23 for the split. Nevertheless we both felt good and decided to stick with it.<br><br>
In miles 2 & 3 we started hitting some uphills and there was some big ones, all right. But as we hit the 3-mile point we were still on a power pace, 19:12 (6:24/mile). I began to wonder how long I was going to be able to hold this as the hills continued to take their toll. At 5 miles we topped a riser and hit the split in 32:21, and at this point more people were passing us. But my teammate and I kept on our plan.<br><br>
I never saw the 6-mile split but I could definitely feel my quads starting to burn. They weren't kidding about these hills, I thought.<br><br>
As we rounded a corner at the 7-mile split, we were 45:57. I was now definitely struggling and beginning to do the math in my head of where I was going to finish. I quickly calculated even with my tired brain, that I would easily go sub-70 as long as some disaster didn't strike. In short, a PR was in the bag and I knew it. But this was a race for our team, and coasting it in with that result already in hand would not do. I had to reach down inside for something extra.<br><br>
As we got to about 7.5 my teammate decided to make his move. He powered up yet another hill and starting mowing people down one by one. By the time we hit 8, he had put a whopping 12 seconds between me and him. 8-mile split was 53:01...crap, I thought, that's a 7-minute mile, gotta pick it up. I concentrated on my form and breathing and tried to steady myself. And then finally at about 8.5, the switch flipped for me. The exhaustion started to go away. Even as we hit another hill, I was suddenly, almost effortlessly putting people away who I had been chasing all morning. The next thing I noticed was that I was now catching back up to my teammate...only 6 seconds gap now.<br><br>
But where was the 9 mile point? Finally it came up. I checked my watch and it said I had just run an 8-minute mile. Sorry but no way and a woman I passed at the marker obviously agreed as she asked me if I thought that mile was a little long, to which I said "hell yeah." I'm betting it was as much as 1.25. I figured, OK, three quarters of a mile to go, I've got this finish. By now I was back on my teammate's shoulder, having erased the entire gap. As we headed towards the campus, I passed him but I was already thinking of the next guy ahead. We came to a long flat straightaway and the guy in front of me was determined to keep me at bay. So I drafted off him until we made the final turn, where a volunteer was saying "just a quarter mile to go." At that point I said to myself "this is my time now. Go!" I stepped up HARD and powered it all the way in.<br><br>
The best part, though, was looking up at that clock as I raced towards the line. I came in at 66:42, a 6:40 mile pace. I had just obliterated my old PR and my goal time for the day! Not bad for finishing 101st overall.<br><br>
I've even got a picture from the finish -- <a href="http://www.mcrrcphotos.com/gallery/4397599_mPWT6#258306066_Zhhqs-A-LB" target="_blank">http://www.mcrrcphotos.com/gallery/4...066_Zhhqs-A-LB</a><br><br>
Looking back, I think it was a combination of factors that led to this performance. I've put in a lot of great training to be sure. But I also think the teamwork factor played a huge role. BTW, the teammate I ran most of the race with hung on pretty well, only ended up about 4 seconds behind me. The high competitive level of the race itself also played a factor. With so many fast runners in this race, it had to lift my level.<br><br>
As for the team competition, despite our skeleton crew we placed a very respectable 6th out of 10 teams. I'm happy to have helped with that.<br><br>
In any case, it was a great race, one that I won't soon forget. I don't know when my next 10-miler will be, perhaps the Broad Street Run (Philadelphia) in May. First though, I've got some business to attend to on Patriot's Day; and this gives me loads of confidence.
66:42 for 10 miles (6:40/mile pace)<br>
101/544 OA<br><br>
So far in 2008 my training has been primarily focused on April and the Boston Marathon. But as I've said many times in the past, marathons are not my strongest distance, but rather 10-milers are. So when the opportunity came to race in a 10-miler with an extra bump of competitive intensity added, I couldn't resist. Moreover, I decided in the week prior to actually treat this race like a target and come into it ready for an optimum performance. That meant, instead of "training through" the race, I actually stepped back a little bit, only doing one hard workout in the week leading up to the race.<br><br>
A little bit on the race itself. This was a "club challenge" 10-miler, a team race scored very similar to a cross country race. Thus, my team, the DC Roadrunners, traveled an hour north to Columbia to lock horns with some of the best running clubs in Maryland. The home club, Howard County Striders, was particularly ready for this, bringing out a large group that featured many of their best racers. The same was true for all the Maryland clubs, and it made our contingent of 21 look like real underdogs in this.<br><br>
The weather on Sunday morning was quite chilly and it was an early start to boot. I rose at 5:30 am and, having wisely set the coffee pot the night before, quickly dressed had some java, some water and oatmeal, and was out the door to meet my fellow carpoolers in Vienna, VA at 6:15. We got up to Columbia about 7:15, beating most of the rush and we are able to check in and get our numbers without any trouble. I stretched inside the gym of the community college where the race was based and did a few warmup drills inside, deciding to stay out the cold until it was time.<br><br>
Before long we headed out to the start area. I got in a couple of race pace strides and felt ready. As we got into position a guy said "hi" and we realized that we had both finished back-to-back a few weeks earlier in the DCRRC 20k championship race. Since today we were both running for the club we decided to run together and pace each other, hoping to break 70 minutes. I wasn't sure it would happen, though, because I had heard this course was brutally hilly.<br><br>
The gun went off and though we were a few rows back there was little congestion at the start, because this race was full of fast people. Clearly every club wanted to make a good showing here. The first mile went downhill a bit but even so I was surprised to look at my watch and see 6:23 for the split. Nevertheless we both felt good and decided to stick with it.<br><br>
In miles 2 & 3 we started hitting some uphills and there was some big ones, all right. But as we hit the 3-mile point we were still on a power pace, 19:12 (6:24/mile). I began to wonder how long I was going to be able to hold this as the hills continued to take their toll. At 5 miles we topped a riser and hit the split in 32:21, and at this point more people were passing us. But my teammate and I kept on our plan.<br><br>
I never saw the 6-mile split but I could definitely feel my quads starting to burn. They weren't kidding about these hills, I thought.<br><br>
As we rounded a corner at the 7-mile split, we were 45:57. I was now definitely struggling and beginning to do the math in my head of where I was going to finish. I quickly calculated even with my tired brain, that I would easily go sub-70 as long as some disaster didn't strike. In short, a PR was in the bag and I knew it. But this was a race for our team, and coasting it in with that result already in hand would not do. I had to reach down inside for something extra.<br><br>
As we got to about 7.5 my teammate decided to make his move. He powered up yet another hill and starting mowing people down one by one. By the time we hit 8, he had put a whopping 12 seconds between me and him. 8-mile split was 53:01...crap, I thought, that's a 7-minute mile, gotta pick it up. I concentrated on my form and breathing and tried to steady myself. And then finally at about 8.5, the switch flipped for me. The exhaustion started to go away. Even as we hit another hill, I was suddenly, almost effortlessly putting people away who I had been chasing all morning. The next thing I noticed was that I was now catching back up to my teammate...only 6 seconds gap now.<br><br>
But where was the 9 mile point? Finally it came up. I checked my watch and it said I had just run an 8-minute mile. Sorry but no way and a woman I passed at the marker obviously agreed as she asked me if I thought that mile was a little long, to which I said "hell yeah." I'm betting it was as much as 1.25. I figured, OK, three quarters of a mile to go, I've got this finish. By now I was back on my teammate's shoulder, having erased the entire gap. As we headed towards the campus, I passed him but I was already thinking of the next guy ahead. We came to a long flat straightaway and the guy in front of me was determined to keep me at bay. So I drafted off him until we made the final turn, where a volunteer was saying "just a quarter mile to go." At that point I said to myself "this is my time now. Go!" I stepped up HARD and powered it all the way in.<br><br>
The best part, though, was looking up at that clock as I raced towards the line. I came in at 66:42, a 6:40 mile pace. I had just obliterated my old PR and my goal time for the day! Not bad for finishing 101st overall.<br><br>
I've even got a picture from the finish -- <a href="http://www.mcrrcphotos.com/gallery/4397599_mPWT6#258306066_Zhhqs-A-LB" target="_blank">http://www.mcrrcphotos.com/gallery/4...066_Zhhqs-A-LB</a><br><br>
Looking back, I think it was a combination of factors that led to this performance. I've put in a lot of great training to be sure. But I also think the teamwork factor played a huge role. BTW, the teammate I ran most of the race with hung on pretty well, only ended up about 4 seconds behind me. The high competitive level of the race itself also played a factor. With so many fast runners in this race, it had to lift my level.<br><br>
As for the team competition, despite our skeleton crew we placed a very respectable 6th out of 10 teams. I'm happy to have helped with that.<br><br>
In any case, it was a great race, one that I won't soon forget. I don't know when my next 10-miler will be, perhaps the Broad Street Run (Philadelphia) in May. First though, I've got some business to attend to on Patriot's Day; and this gives me loads of confidence.
