I must admit that I struggled a bit with the very idea of doing this race. I am happy just to be able to run the Ultras content with however I do always determined to finish....its that simple! On the other hand the 10K is a speed event ...more or less pedal to the metal start to finish. I saw today as barometer to measure this aging runners ability to still run with a bit of speed. Small local races are also a bit of an ego booster with a very good chance of finishing in the single digit percentile as well as the occasional shot at the glory of maybe just maybe win and Age Group Award. But wait ...thats not my mental ...what am I doing ...considered skipping it all together , would have loved to have slept in! Burt I went ... conflicted as to why but none the less determined to actually give it my all and as it turns out that is exactly what I did.
Could not have asked for any better weather when the Gun went off at 09:00 am. The start was slow due to traffic and the fact that I seem to take a little bit longer to get up to speed then I use to. By the time I was through the first K I felt like a fish out of water sucking air already. Decided to concentrate on the Garmins average and current pace conveniently displayed on the same screen. I was through the first K in 4min44sec so I knew I had my work cut out for me. I didn't dare look at the heart rate monitor . I almost didn't wear the HRM Strap but decided at the last minute to wear it thinking hoe cool it would be to look at it and perhaps I may establish a new Max Heart Rate. Ticked down the avg pace to a 4:37 through the 5K mark. I felt a bit of a lactate acid build up in the legs around 5K but it passed. It seemed like I would surge ahead a bit , go behind in the O2 then let up a bit recovering but it was quite apparent to me at the half way point that I didn't have anything in reserve and my goal was to maintain the avg 4:37 pace. I was a little disappointed that a sub 45m in day was not going to happen but I really felt like I could blow away the time that I ran in 2005. Continue to surge and let up though 7K where I tried to pick up the pace thinking maybe just maybe I could run a couple near a 4:00 pace but it wasn't meant to be. After a slight incline pat the 8K mark I got a little choked up , felt the lungs were slightly congested and was coughing a bit. Gear it down slightly until I got things under control with the plan to surge through the last K. Posted 4:39 pace in the last K not bad but not the surge I was looking for. Crossed the mat at a chip time of 45min43 sec satisfied with my effort but a bit dissapointed that I didn't get it under the 45min mark..... I awarded myself a B+.
Looking at the Garmin Heart Rate Data afterwards I realized that I really didn't leave anything out there and awarded myself an A- instead of a B+. The heart rate was more or less pegged at the top of Zone 4 from about the 3K mark on and I discovered that my Max HR is 167 not 166 as I had previously though. So I was running at around 98-100% of my Max Heart Rate for about 30 minutes of the race. I really couldn't have gone any faster today!
So I finished 22nd out of the 175 Soles who laced up for the 10K, 17th out of 53 Men ( 3 to 1 ratio Women to Men in the 10K ... where were you Guys???) , 2nd out of 12 old guys 50 years + . To boot I had a negative split ...Garmin says first 5K 23:01 , second 5K 22:49 that a 12 second negative split.
So here is all the data from the Garmin....
( the HR Data early in the race is bad ...until I start to sweat I get data that shows high )
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