First and foremost (and not surprisingly), this was a beautiful race. One of the most scenic courses I've ever raced on. A cool, misty morning in the Blue Ridge Mountains--nice. This is the longest race I have ever done, the previous longest being a 12K. I was a little intimidated by that. Also, I had heard there were two "tough" hills in the first half--one steeper and shorter, one longer and leveler. I was shooting for a finish time of 1:14:29, the significance of that being I wanted my average pace/mile to be faster than 8:00. That sounded reasonable based on a longer distance and the hills, since I've been pretty close to 7 consistently on my 5K's. This being my first out-of-state race, I was happy to see some familiar Knoxville faces...including nemesis John Smyth!
Traffic was very heavy at the start. One of the worst starts I've had in that regard. Even though I was aiming for a slower pace than my 5K's, I felt "hemmed in" that first mile. Time was 8:16. Well, okay, since I was hemmed in. But mile 2 is where the aforementioned steep hill comes in. 9:05. Already 1:21 behind pace. Ruh-roh, better pick it up. Was able to turn in 7:05 on the third mile, my fastest mile of the race. Hey, those 5K habits die hard, I guess.
Mile 4--the second significant hill. Great. And remember, this one's subtler but longer. Mile 4 9:10, mile 5 9:50 (slowest mile of the race). Mile 6 was 7:59, but again, there were downhills.
One of the many things I'm disappointed by is that I feel like I didn't finish strong the last mile or two overall. I can only blame it on not being used to racing that distance; I was tired at the end. Hot too--in spite of the relatively cool morning, I was quickly pouring water over my head at the stations. Guess I should have went out even slower, and not tried that 7:05 mile. But anyway, in spite of the last 2.3 miles being basically flat, I couldn't seem to muster anything better than 9:13 (mile 7), 8:01 (mile 8), and 8:45 (mile 9).
The end was interesting. I talk a lot about my kick, but I think this may have been one of my best ones ever (but again, makes me worry that I "left too much out there"). But the finish was flat to downhill, and there were a lot of people in "shooting range". The funny thing is that the fact that the clock was about to turn over to 1:20:00 didn't even register in my running-addled brain. Otherwise, I might have made it. :-\ Crossed in 1:20:01. I beat nine people by 17 seconds or less; I'm pretty sure those are all folks I sprinted by the last quarter. Indeed, the GPS tells me that I did the last quarter-mile in sixty seconds flat!
But, my average pace for the race was 8:29, far short of my goal. Also, John paid me back for beating him by 1:08 in the 5K the previous day; he beat me by forty seconds. Now that's pacing yourself!
But it was a beautiful day, and it was a PR (albeit a guaranteed one), so I'm trying not to cry. Finished in the top half, anyway--174/451 overall, 28/59 age division. Oh, and the guy I beat by 17 seconds was in my age division!
So I feel a little disappointed in my performance, but I am looking at it as a learning experience.
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joebedford said ...
First and foremost (and not surprisingly), this was a beautiful race. One of the most scenic courses I've ever raced on. A cool, misty morning in the Blue Ridge Mountains--nice. This is the longest race I have ever done, the previous longest being a 12K. I was a little intimidated by that. Also, I had heard there were two "tough" hills in the first half--one steeper and shorter, one longer and leveler. I was shooting for a finish time of 1:14:29, the significance of that being I wanted my average pace/mile to be faster than 8:00. That sounded reasonable based on a longer distance and the hills, since I've been pretty close to 7 consistently on my 5K's. This being my first out-of-state race, I was happy to see some familiar Knoxville faces...including nemesis John Smyth!
Traffic was very heavy at the start. One of the worst starts I've had in that regard. Even though I was aiming for a slower pace than my 5K's, I felt "hemmed in" that first mile. Time was 8:16. Well, okay, since I was hemmed in. But mile 2 is where the aforementioned steep hill comes in. 9:05. Already 1:21 behind pace. Ruh-roh, better pick it up. Was able to turn in 7:05 on the third mile, my fastest mile of the race. Hey, those 5K habits die hard, I guess.
Mile 4--the second significant hill. Great. And remember, this one's subtler but longer. Mile 4 9:10, mile 5 9:50 (slowest mile of the race). Mile 6 was 7:59, but again, there were downhills.
One of the many things I'm disappointed by is that I feel like I didn't finish strong the last mile or two overall. I can only blame it on not being used to racing that distance; I was tired at the end. Hot too--in spite of the relatively cool morning, I was quickly pouring water over my head at the stations. Guess I should have went out even slower, and not tried that 7:05 mile. But anyway, in spite of the last 2.3 miles being basically flat, I couldn't seem to muster anything better than 9:13 (mile 7), 8:01 (mile 8), and 8:45 (mile 9).
The end was interesting. I talk a lot about my kick, but I think this may have been one of my best ones ever (but again, makes me worry that I "left too much out there"). But the finish was flat to downhill, and there were a lot of people in "shooting range". The funny thing is that the fact that the clock was about to turn over to 1:20:00 didn't even register in my running-addled brain. Otherwise, I might have made it. :-\ Crossed in 1:20:01. I beat nine people by 17 seconds or less; I'm pretty sure those are all folks I sprinted by the last quarter. Indeed, the GPS tells me that I did the last quarter-mile in sixty seconds flat!
But, my average pace for the race was 8:29, far short of my goal. Also, John paid me back for beating him by 1:08 in the 5K the previous day; he beat me by forty seconds. Now that's pacing yourself!
But it was a beautiful day, and it was a PR (albeit a guaranteed one), so I'm trying not to cry. Finished in the top half, anyway--174/451 overall, 28/59 age division. Oh, and the guy I beat by 17 seconds was in my age division!
So I feel a little disappointed in my performance, but I am looking at it as a learning experience.
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