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Happy Labor Day!<br><br>
Whenever we've been in town I try to run this race - it's one of the few 10k's around, it's near my house, and a good tune up for fall marathon season.<br><br>
My goals for the race were: 1) Break 36:00 (current PR is 36:1<img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/images/smilies/cool.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Cool">, 2) Run evenly. Having done a tough 23 miler on Sat (sub 7 avg with a few 6:20's thrown in at the end) I wasn't sure what I had in me...I felt really sluggish on Sun but woke up feeling pretty good on Monday.<br><br>
I saw several friends in the race, including my buddy Bill who will be running Air Force with me in 2 weeks. He's a strong runner and we're fairly close (though he's beat me the two races we've both run this summer). We started off and immediately I'm running in the lead pack of 4-5 as one guy takes it out hard. We cruise along together and see the leader already slowing a little after a mile. 1st mile for me was 5:40, right about where I wanted to be. The second mile we're definitely gaining on the leader and as we encounter the one hill on the course, the 2nd mile was 5:49. By this time we have reeled in the leader but he stays with us, and our pack is still about 5 guys (including my friend Bill).<br><br>
I had been cruising along, feeling in control and noticed that others seemed to be breathing harder than me - who knows if this was true, but I felt pretty good. I was worried about what I might have left after Sat's long run, but I keep it even and mile 3 is 5:46. At about 3.5 miles, I pull out a little ahead of the others and it feels like we're down to 3 or 4 of us now as I think the early leader fell back. Mile 4 was also 5:46 so we're not slowing down, it's just that some guys are tiring a little. I still feel really good and stay in the front.<br><br>
I decide that since my kick is pretty sad, I'll try to pick it up in mile 5 and see what happens. There's a short downhill about 1.7 mles from the finish and I decided that I'd use the downhill to speed up and keep that tempo in. Before we get there, though, I notice there's one guy behind me about 3 feet and the others seem to have fallen back. I listened to the guy breathing and it sounds like he's working hard - still, I don't know this dude so I assume his kick is better than mine. Just before the 5 mile mark (5:40), I hear the guy say "Oh, shit!" and then I slowly hear his breathing get further behind me. I thought I'd broken him so I take off. I didn't really speed up much as evidenced by the 6 second drop, but the effort was increased for sure.<br><br>
The last mile+ I was weaving through 5k walkers but no problems there. I didn't turn around to see how big my lead was as I didn't want to encourage anyone, but it was an effort to keep it rolling. I saw some friends watching the race and I kept pushing (mile 6 was 5:43). I was pretty well done by then but my lead was big enough - I ran a huge PR of 35:40 and got the win by ~20 seconds.<br><br>
A great way to end the long weekend - I was tired all day and I think I'll feel the effort all week, but it's a great sign for the marathons I have coming up. Only my 3rd win and the first one that I feel like I beat some good runners (my friend Bill came in 3rd).<br><br>
Funny sidenote - the guy who was behind me didn't have his spirit broken by me - apparently he had to duck into the woods to drop the deuce! So I can honestly say I won this race based on my legs, lungs, brain, and colon! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Very Happy">
Whenever we've been in town I try to run this race - it's one of the few 10k's around, it's near my house, and a good tune up for fall marathon season.<br><br>
My goals for the race were: 1) Break 36:00 (current PR is 36:1<img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/images/smilies/cool.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Cool">, 2) Run evenly. Having done a tough 23 miler on Sat (sub 7 avg with a few 6:20's thrown in at the end) I wasn't sure what I had in me...I felt really sluggish on Sun but woke up feeling pretty good on Monday.<br><br>
I saw several friends in the race, including my buddy Bill who will be running Air Force with me in 2 weeks. He's a strong runner and we're fairly close (though he's beat me the two races we've both run this summer). We started off and immediately I'm running in the lead pack of 4-5 as one guy takes it out hard. We cruise along together and see the leader already slowing a little after a mile. 1st mile for me was 5:40, right about where I wanted to be. The second mile we're definitely gaining on the leader and as we encounter the one hill on the course, the 2nd mile was 5:49. By this time we have reeled in the leader but he stays with us, and our pack is still about 5 guys (including my friend Bill).<br><br>
I had been cruising along, feeling in control and noticed that others seemed to be breathing harder than me - who knows if this was true, but I felt pretty good. I was worried about what I might have left after Sat's long run, but I keep it even and mile 3 is 5:46. At about 3.5 miles, I pull out a little ahead of the others and it feels like we're down to 3 or 4 of us now as I think the early leader fell back. Mile 4 was also 5:46 so we're not slowing down, it's just that some guys are tiring a little. I still feel really good and stay in the front.<br><br>
I decide that since my kick is pretty sad, I'll try to pick it up in mile 5 and see what happens. There's a short downhill about 1.7 mles from the finish and I decided that I'd use the downhill to speed up and keep that tempo in. Before we get there, though, I notice there's one guy behind me about 3 feet and the others seem to have fallen back. I listened to the guy breathing and it sounds like he's working hard - still, I don't know this dude so I assume his kick is better than mine. Just before the 5 mile mark (5:40), I hear the guy say "Oh, shit!" and then I slowly hear his breathing get further behind me. I thought I'd broken him so I take off. I didn't really speed up much as evidenced by the 6 second drop, but the effort was increased for sure.<br><br>
The last mile+ I was weaving through 5k walkers but no problems there. I didn't turn around to see how big my lead was as I didn't want to encourage anyone, but it was an effort to keep it rolling. I saw some friends watching the race and I kept pushing (mile 6 was 5:43). I was pretty well done by then but my lead was big enough - I ran a huge PR of 35:40 and got the win by ~20 seconds.<br><br>
A great way to end the long weekend - I was tired all day and I think I'll feel the effort all week, but it's a great sign for the marathons I have coming up. Only my 3rd win and the first one that I feel like I beat some good runners (my friend Bill came in 3rd).<br><br>
Funny sidenote - the guy who was behind me didn't have his spirit broken by me - apparently he had to duck into the woods to drop the deuce! So I can honestly say I won this race based on my legs, lungs, brain, and colon! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Very Happy">
