I woke up already sore from the track events I did yesterday. My quads, hamstrings and even my butt were hurting. The butt thing is probably from long jump. Also, my right arm and shoulder were sore (that's from javelin). So, I was in a perfect condition to race a 10K :). All the more reason not to race it, but use it as a tempo run as I planned earlier.
The great thing about this race is that it is in Regents Park, where I train all the time, so I was able to just run to the meeting place as my warm-up. I got 3 miles in by going the longest possible route. It was already too warm at 9:00AM. The race started at 9:30 and it was just getting warmer and warmer, I think it was around 80F and pretty humid. This is heat wave for London. There was also no wind whatsoever, which didn't help at all.
The race was 3 loops around the park, all flat with minor undulations. I saw several fast girls drop out after 4K, so I wasn't the only one suffering. It was also a very intense 2 weeks of races for the club, so some girls were really tired. I went out at about 8:20 pace, and felt very comfortable, aside from the heat. I caught up to a girl I know and chatted with her for couple of minutes before I went ahead. I was surprised at how conversational I was at this pace. On the other hand, I had no desire to push the pace any further, it wasn't like I was holding back a lot. My legs ached, but it wasn't too bad once I was in the groove. At 5K my split was 25:59 (8:19 pace). The plan was to speed up to about 8:00-8:05 pace at this point. It wasn't easy to push myself, but I thought that if I don't get moving, I'll get 52 minutes for the entire race, and I know I can do better than that, even if it's a tempo! So I started running faster, and after a while, settled into a 7:55, then 7:50 pace, and felt quite decent. I started catching and passing runners who went out too hard and were now dying. I was holding 7:50 average until 7K mark, and then it got significantly harder to maintain. I hit some inclines and the average dropped to 8:00 in the last 2Ks. I was definitely working hard by then, and I was overheating, the sun was out and it wasn't too much fun. I managed to kick the last 200m or so, and got 24:32 for the second 5K (7:58 pace). Total 50:32 for the 10K. I think that if I truly raced it from the beginning, I could have run 49 minutes or better, but it was also hot so who knows. Afterwards, I was tired, but I recovered relatively quickly. I kept gazzling water (probably 4 cups immediately after I finished, and 2 more later), and I was dripping with sweat.
Overall, I'm pretty happy with this race/tempo run. It was a great workout despite the heat, and my longest tempo since I started back after PE. It was also a very fun way to put in 10 miles of training.
After the race, there were relays of 4x500m on grass. I had the sense not to do them, I just watched (lots of fun!). When I finally started jogging home, I was SO stiff, it wasn't even funny. My legs hurt like crazy and I hobbled at 10:00 pace until my legs loosened up a little. Now, few hours later, I feel tired, but good!
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