AM: 15.25 miles total including Broad Street 10-mile race in 58:09/10
Report later. For now I'll say I had a good day given how I've felt the last three weeks or so.
REPORT
I had hopes and dreams of running under 57 minutes several weeks ago. I was finding that even late in workouts I could hit mid- to low-5:30s on my mile repeats and given a gentle downhill point-to-point course and that I was going to try fro sub-75 minutes in the half 3 weeks before that the goal made sense. After a rough half and very rough last 3 weeks I basically didn't want to embarrass myself by running slower than 60 minutes. Last year I ran 59:28. I said I didn't have a time goal but of course I did. I thought going under 58:30 would, if not make me happy, make me realize I haven't messed up as bad as I thought.
Warmed up for 20 minutes at La Salle in a good bit of rain. The track was closed, which was fine because the track sucks (pitted and very hard). Changed shoes and clothes and got Megan and we headed out. I did a few short, half-hearted strides (Philadelphia lacks good stride real estate, especially in that part of the city).
Last year I smoked the first 2 miles in the low 5:40s. The course is very fast with 150 feet of net downhill and one S-turn around City Hall. I went through the first mile in 5:48 which felt very easy. Breathing was good, legs were okay. From there I tried to ratchet down the pace as I figured why not go for it? I was running 5:45 through 5 miles then worried my legs just wouldn't have it even though my breathing was quite good. 28:49 for 5 miles and I knew I was on sub-58 pace if I could more or less hang on.
I somehow missed the split at mile 6 and realized just before mile 7 that I was at almost 7 and not at almost 6. I've done that in a marathon with miles 22 and 23 and it is a glorious feeling.
I started to slow a bit the last three miles and tried to close some gaps to hang on. I even thought about trying to help the 5th place woman catch the ladies in front of us but I was ready to be done and she really didn't sound interested. I passed her and a guy she was with but they passed back as I started to die aroun 8.5. I picked it up the last kilometer and a good bit once I could see the finish. I felt like I gave up but then I starting weezing a bit and grimacing the last quarter mile.
Cooled down in the grass. Talked to Jonathan who ran 56:45, which was crazy given that I beat him in the half. He'll be very fast if he gets higher mileage and consistent workouts. Leo can in around 59:30, which was about what he was hopping.
It was very cold and thankfully they had heat shields because I had nothing. Finished cooling down for 30 minutes then waited for Megan. We froze on the way back to La Salle on the subway.
This was technically a 10-mile PR since I don't have an offial split from the Rock and Roll half this last fall but I know my first 10-mile split was something like 58:22 or about 5:51 pace and I dropped to 5:47/5:48 overall pace over the last 5k, meaning that if you take out the first 3 miles and exchange them for the last 3 when I was running ~5:40 pace I was likely faster.
Strava Splits: 5:47, 5:42, 5:45, 5:49, 5:45, 5:45, 5:48, 5:53, 5:56, 5:52
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