HSBC Chilly Half - Burlington, ON - Sun March 1, 2009
Nice day for a race on the waterfront in Burlington. It was a bright, sunny -10C at the gun. A bit "Chillier" with the wind, but not nearly as bad as it could have been. I had been wondering about the final turn west on Lakeshore Blvd at 13k, and how running into a headwind would have felt. Luckily it was not an issue.
What was an issue, you ask? Well, "Rob the dummy racer" showed up again today.
Before the race I had been thinking, "Go out at 6 min/k and see what happens." So I wouldn't fall completely off my PB result from Scotiabank last fall I was planning to run the first 8-10k without walk breaks. Treat them like a long, steady run (read: slow) run from training. Then, depending on how I felt - increase the velocity to break 2 hours.
Chatting with my peeps before the race, I found out that our coach had agreed to pace for a 1:55 finish. Of course, "Finish Line Fever" took over. I thought, "Yeah, I'd love to finish at 1:55." Especially if all the cool kids were doing it.
We all took off from the start together and found our Pace Bunny Paul a kilometer into the race. Everything was feeling great. No worries. I'm going to come in at 1:55! Except for the fact that I was writing a cheque that my body couldn't cash. My heart rate was over 180 for most of the first 12k of the race. That is my age adjusted max.
Paul, Dave and I remained together approaching 13k. I called for a walk break, but they decided to continue to the water station. When we parted company I lost the pacing that had carried me up to that point. My body started complaining. I couldn't keep up what I had started. This wasn't an unexpected result. I had asked Paul where is HR was at earlier on. He told me 156. Dave said 162. My 188 was putting me in a no-win situation.
My recorded splits were 27:42 @ 5k, 1:22:55 @ 15k, 2:04:05 @ 21.1k, nearly dead-on 5:30/km pace for the first 15k and 6:42/km for the last 6k.
I saw Paul and Dave start up again after the water station, but had no hope to meet-up with them. Then I began to see my smarter friends go by, feeling fresh, and encouraging me to grab onto their coat tails. Unfortunately, I had nothing much left to make a surge, and shuffled across the finish line with a wimper.
Paul and Dave both came in at 1:54 and change in a very impressive race. I wonder had I run with them to that water station, would I have survived for the same finish? It seemed like we were pushing each other forward through the 5 and 10k distances, it may have been enough for me to gut-it-out.
Part of my difficulty was the need for a pit-stop in the late stages of the race. A winter race made the logistics of relieving myself much more problematic. I would have welcomed the comfort of a short pee break in those last kilometers. Reminder for the marathon . . . visit Johnny-on-the-spot!
Finally, I wonder about the psychology of racing. Of having a plan, and changing it. Of wanting to outdo previous performance, but knowing that it can't be done every single time I go out for a run. Will "negative split" ever be part of my vocabulary? I have a couple more tune-ups before my goal race, so we'll see. I learned alot (again!) today. Too bad learning has to be so hard . . .
Time 2:04:05
Distance 21.1k (13.1 mi)
Pace 5:52/km (9:24/mi)
HR Max 224, Avg 181
Good thing I didn't blow a valve . . . | 