Going into this race I was questioning my ability to race and be competitive as I had not had a decent race performance that I could be proud of for some time. I know it's hard to explain for someone who is not a runner but regardless of time or place, a runner knows deep down if they've done their absolute best and whether they had the determination to face their own doubts and go for it. I had blown up at the St. Pat's 10K, raced like shit and was beaten badly in he UM 5,000, and was in a bad place as far as my confidence in running was concerned. Joe Henderson once said "racing is where you face the truth about yourself."Indeed, I feel like we need those moments to grow as a person and it gives us a chance to improve ourselves. I'm very happy with the race I've run today which is a rare thing.
I started out at a reasonable clip then slowed it a bit. After the windy third mile we went around a cone at the Kennedy Center and Greg and I picked it up with the wind at our backs. We were with a pack of a couple of GRC guys and a few others. Greg picked it up too quickly for my blood during the fourth mile and I let him go (sub five is nuts but did not know we were running that at the time). After going through 5 miles in about 26:00, I was with Royer and Balmer of GRC as well as some other dude. For the remainder of the race it was me and Royer surging and trying to break away to no affect. Miles 9 and 10 into the wind were really tough and I'm glad Royer was there to help me out. He was pulling away in the last mile but a quick surge and I was there with 800 to go. That's when the Pacers/GRC coach told Royer not to let me pass him. I blasted forward with a sprint and dropped him and by then the other dude who pulled away earlier. I was well on my way to beating these guys when my legs completely locked going up the hill at 400m to go. I had absolutely nothing remaining. The lactate overwhelmed my legs and I was going all out while my form was reduced to shit. At that point Royer and the other dude flew by me like I was standing still. I guess that leg speed was to be expected by a guy who ran a 14:07 5K in college!
I was not too angry though, as I truly raced with everything I had and at the end of the day if you've done that, you're a winner, regardless of your time or place. It's not easy to truly do your best in a race and it certainly doesn't always happen but it did here today! 52:23 for a new PR. Still, the runner in me was hoping to break 52:00 today, which I feel I'm capable of with a few training tweaks.
A couple of notes to record for the future
1. My watch said I ran a 31:48 10K somewhere during the race. I don't know about that but my official 10K split was 32:18. My 10K PR is 32:06 and my last race was a 32:34 10K at St. Pat's last month. I'll call that progress.
2. Our men's elite team did not beat GRC/Pacers. That group is a dominant force for competitive amateur running in the area, with scores of fast people coming out of college and into the group. However, considering the college PRs and the caliber of their team they put together we did not lose by much at all. Sloane outlasted Jerry and Graham, and Greg nipped Kieran by 0.1. It would have been interesting if one of our team's expats had not moved away. A Mills, a Fernandez, or a Smith on our side would have evened up the odds a little. Maybe in another world. We still did an excellent job!
GRC/Pacers: (51:17,51:38,52:06),52:18,52:40
CA/Runners: (51:06,52:06,52:23),53:38,55:04
3. I had the intention of truly racing this thing so I set up my watch not to take splits and I didn't bother to look at my watch during the race. I knew that I'd truly reach my best simply by racing others and not worrying about splits and at they same time they'd probably reach their best by racing me. However, Strava automatically splits your miles after you upload it so I did get to take a look afterward and here is what my watch had:
5:11, 5:16, 5:12, 4:58, 5:12, 5:06, 5:05, 5:23, 5:25*
*a little longer than a mile as GPS recorded the course as long due to tangents, 180 turns, and GPS inaccuracy. I probably ran a tad bit more than 10 miles but that is normal with GPS splits.
Now lets compare the splits above to the previous "best race of my life given the distance" at Cherry Blossom 2015. These were manual splits and of course the course was reduced to 9.39 miles so they do not completely overlap plus there are only 8 splits
5:10, 5:17, 5:08, 5:05, xx, 5:08, 5:14, 5:16, 5:09
I was superior to the 2015 race for the splits we have in every aspect EXCEPT the last two miles. They were into the wind this year, which was worse. I was also training 90-100 miles a week for a marathon in 2015. I had the endurance to run a 5:09 last mile then. I came up a bit short here. I'd imagine those other guys would have been toast had I thrown down a 5:09 for the last mile or maybe I ran a 5:09 because it was a shorter race. Who knows. Apparently in 2015 my "converted 10 mile time" would have been 51:57. Well maybe. The fact remains that I set a PR today for 10 miles, equivalent to a sub 1:10 half or a 15:0x 5K. I think I'll call this a win and be happy with it.
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