Deseret News 10K this morning. James and I drove up last night and stayed with Chad (thanks Chad), who is 5 minutes from the start. Sasha joined us later that evening, and we all had a good visit. I slept pretty well. I got up a little before 5AM, downed a Clif Bar, and we drove over to the start, arriving at about 5:20AM. I hit the portapot, then we found Cody and warmed up about a mile. Changed into racing flats, but then I had to use the portapot again. This time the line was too long. Fortunately, I ran into Mike, and he showed me the secret portapots of Red Butte Gardens. We ran over there and got more warmup in. 2.5 miles warmup total. I was feeling decent. The race started a few minutes late, but not too bad. At the dark start line, it was hard to tell who was there, but I just assumed "everyone" was there, and then some. I was hoping for a deep, strong field, and one of my goals was to hook up with a large pack and get dragged to a fast time and competitive finish. I was also expecting there to be quite a few fast high school runners, due to the "high school challenge" or whatever it is. Today, the more bodies out there, the better. I wasn't so much concerned about circuit points or even overall place, but was more interested in sheer competition and working through some the "drive" issues I've had lately in 5K's and 10K's. As expected, the field got out hard at the start. Teren, Trever, and a Kenyan (Richard Kimeli) got off to a blazing start and vanished into the dark within a few seconds. Another Kenyan (Simon Sawe) headed up a chase group. I was content to start the race in 20th or so and pick my way through the crowd during the first mile. By the time we turned onto Foothill, I was in 10th or so, and tailing a large pack about 15 meters ahead of me. Simon Sawe had broken away from the chase pack and was slowly moving up. I made the move to catch the pack and was absorbed. First mile was 4:38. Fast. Now to hang on. The second mile was also a strong net downhill, and pace remained torrid. Our pack (which seemed to consist mostly of high school runners) remained mostly intact. Sawe continued pulling away. I noticed that pace was very quick on downhills, but slowed more than I expected on uphills. Hopefully I could use this later on in the race. Second mile was 4:38. Mile three slowed quite a bit, partially I think to some uphill, but also due to the pack seeming to relax. I just stayed tucked in. One or two people dropped. We now had about 4-5 people. Sawe still way ahead, but also a figure in white (who I thought could be Trevor) had noticeably fallen off the lead pack, and seemed to be coming back. Seeing this, I urged the pack on, saying that we can catch him. Third mile was 4:57. 5K split was very close to my PR. I thought I had it in the bag after two miles, but oh well. During Mile 4 I started hurting quite a bit and was wondering if I could really finish this thing out. But I think the pack was thinking the same thing, and no one made any moves. Again, I stayed tucked in and let other people do the work and drag me along. Inertia. By the end of the 4th mile, our "pack" was down to just 4 of us (two high schoolers and another old guy like me). Trever still coming back, but very slowly. Sawe catches Trever. Teren and Kimeli are way way ahead. Mile split was 4:53. During Mile 5, the course turns south and flattens out a bit, but is still a nice gradual downhill. In some ways, this mile was easier than the steeper miles. My world of hurt is ever-expanding, and by the end of Mile 5, I'm making pre-death wimper noises, typical for late in a race. No one else is wimpering, but no one is breaking away either. Stay tucked in, stay with the pack. Mile splits was 4:57. Last mile. I'm out of gas, but so is everyone else. One strong move would have broken me, but no one makes it. The older guy drops, now it's just me and two high schoolers, one from Oklahoma and one from Utah. The crowd from the parade route are cheering for the Utah guy (Jaren Ward). We make the final turn and head up the hill toward Liberty Park. As expected, it feels like the Matterhorn, even though it's really nothing. Pace slows to what feels like a crawl, and I go with it and relax a little. Save it up for a kick. Despite the slowing, the Oklahoma kid drops. Now it's just me and the Utah kid. My goal for this race was to dig deep, something I have not done lately. Now it is time. But I am also in wimpering pre-death mode, which conflicts with digging deep. The high school kid could have broken me with a strong surge at any time, but instead he suddenly drops the pace with a quarter mile to go. I take advantage, turn the corner and go around him, starting my kick. At the next corner (the final left turn) a guy (a coach?) is yelling at the kid behind me, "Go, go! Only 100 meters left!!" "How much?" the kid yells back. "100 meters!!". The last thing I needed was some fast-twitch young guy smelling the barn and showing me how little speed work I've done, so push myself into overdrive and finally dig into that well of anaerobic sprinting that's been eluding me lately. I finish all-out into the chute, holding off the competition by several seconds. Mile 6 was 5:21 (yuk!). Last 0.22 was 1:03. My final time was 30:27, and I placed 5th overall. Results are HERE. The guy ahead of us was indeed Trever, and I was pleased to come within 16 seconds of him. He was coming back the whole second half, but very very slowly. I was very happy with this effort. I wanted to stay with a pack, and was able to do so, and hang on despite pain. Usually everyone else is hurting too, so if you can just stay with them it can come down to a kick and whoever wants it more. It was gratifying seeing each person fall off the pack one-by-one, and was definitely happy to beat all of the prep and pre-college runners. They added a lot to the field and I was glad the race had them. I initially wanted to break 30:00, but now I realize that goal was based off the course I ran in 2003. This course was a bit different, and I think it was slower. In 2003, there were several people under 28 minutes. This year there was no one even close. Based on my effort and my peer group performance, I think this was my best 5K/10K effort of the year. It is an 18-second PR from my best track time. However, I am not sure how it really equates to a track at sea level, but I'm happy with both the time and the placing. Mostly, though, I was happy with the tactics, not letting the pack go, and making myself hurt when it mattered. Very good race. Now it's time to get serious about marathon training! Cooled down with James, Cody, Chad, and Adam.PM - after work I ran 2 very easy miles to get the blood flowing after an afternoon of sitting. Felt pretty good. (1120: 93 miles)
| 