Deseret News 10K—Today was a long time in the making. My first 10K was back in the summer of ’95. About a year later (after my Sr. track season) I decided I wanted to run a sub-34. My first year in college that was refined to run a 33:33. This time took on a meaning of its own as soon many things turned into 33s. I wrote 33 under my insoles in my track spikes and even carried around 33 cents that I had found during one run. Needless to say this was a goal that became a very important focus of my running drive. My Sr. year in college I came my closest, running a 34:16 at sea level on the track (5/12/00). After that I felt I would never be in as good of shape again as a 22 yr old college student. However, then I moved to UT and found out about the wonderful world of downhill racing. This is my third time running Des 10K but the first time I came to the line with a good feeling about my training. The last week had been rough as my knee was acting up but nothing that would stop the race. I took a mini-taper this week and was rearing to go. I figured that with my recent races and consistent mileage a sub-33 (though well over 1min PR) was reasonable for the course.
The night before Sasha crashed at my house and we had a good running talk. Then it was off to bed. I had a hard time sleeping and woke up at 4am. I did a warm-up to the start and then started looking for people. I knew there would be a lot of FAST!!! people here today as this is hands down the most competitive race of any distance in UT. I was surprised to see Nick M and briefly said hi. I was also glad to see both Chad and Albert. They would hopefully both be good pacers to work off of. As is typical with this race the first mile was fast. I had used the course tool to look at the splits for 32 and 33 and was expecting anything from a 4:50 to a 5:10. There were plenty of people ahead of me during this mile and I was surprised to see how close I was to Dennis S. but also a large pack of women. I was very good about only looking at the Garmin on the splits and ran mostly by feel.
The first mile was alone in a 5:03.41 down 236ft up 96ft aHR 173.
At this point I was happy to see/hear Chad pull alongside and we immediately got into a rhythm and stated passing some of the people that had gone out too fast. It is seldom that you can find someone that you can race with but no words were spoken we just fell into it. At the turn onto 13th we saw Cody and he cheered us on for a block or so.
The second mile was in a 5:07.37 down 278ft up 139ft aHR 180.
I could see Albert, a guy in a Wasatch jersey and a solid “pack” of women. I started to move away from Chad with the hopes of the two of us working up to Albert and on to Wasatch guy. I was still feeling pretty good and just kept telling myself that if I could hang on through mile 4 at this pace I would be in good shape of at least breaking 34 if not 33…
The third mile was in a 5:19.17 down 195ft up 50ft aHR 184.
I was still pretty happy with this as anything sub-5:20 through 4 miles would have me in a great position to finish up. I also glanced down at the Garmin a block later to see 16 tick by at 3.09 so I had beat my Magna time from a couple of months ago. I was continuing to gain on people but more or less just running on feel. Mile 4 is all down S Temple and I just kept thinking to hold on.
The fourth mile was in a 5:20.1 down 172ft up 63ft aHR 182
The fifth mile turns off of S. Temple and earlier when I ran this as a training run it seemed to last forever so I was prepared for that. We also started to get comments from the people lining the parade route and being with the elite women it was slightly more tame than last year though I did get a few people calling me a girl and I was breathing like a horse with spit flying and I few people felt the need to mock that. But all and all I was still feeling surprisingly good.
The fifth mile was in a 5:23.04 down 240ft up 191ft aHR 183
I was really starting to feel it but I was still pushing all I had. I think somewhere in here I passed Albert, only to have him pass me back. I could see a police car for the last mile and just kept telling myself get to that turn and only a quarter mile to go you can do this. Finally got to that corner and made the turn I was really feeling the effort. It came on quickly as up to that point the pace felt “easy” as easy as running the hardest you’ve ever run for a distance can feel.
The sixth mile was in a 5:44.92 down 158ft up 62ft aHR 199
From the bump in my HR I know I was pushing it but I just didn’t feel like I responded like a competitor when Albert and then Chad and then two high schoolers blew by me. But I said enough was a enough and sprinted back at least getting Albert and one of the high schoolers but not catching Chad.
Final 0.24 in 1:17.35 down 10ft up 80ft aHR 199
Final Time 33:15.36 or 5:19/mi. That is a PR by 61 seconds so I can’t complain. I did not make my sub-33 but one barrier at a time I guess. Overall, I’m happy with the race, the time, and the relative effort. I’m looking forward to the rest of this year and hopefully continuing to have a year of PRs. This stood for nearly a decade and I have the confidence that (despite the downhill) I’m in as good as shape as I was when I was 21. I guess 30 is the new 21…
Spoke with some bloggers at the finish that I hadn’t met before. It seems like there were some good races all around MichelleL was particularly strong today. Then cooled down with Cody and Chad. We tried to catch the leaders in the marathon but misjudged and missed them. We were able to see BC though we were not able to give him any course help. Overall, a great day and I’m still not too sore so I’m happy about it all. Total miles 14-AA
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