Goal: 1:08-1:10.
I considered this race as a tune up for the half marathon, so there was no taper, no special peaking training, and I still ran 10 miles on Wednesday, and left no rest day before the race. Especially when I learned that there are some nasty hills in the middle of the course, I decided that I would certainly not aim to run anything faster than HM race pace (6:52), and even 7:00 min/mile would be fine. I have never raced anything beyond a 10K seriously, so I had no idea what to expect. I knew that I was always struggling at least a little in training when I had to maintain this 6:50 pace, even for just 5 miles. On the other hand, I had run 10Ks at faster pace, but 10 miles is quite a bit longer that 10K.
In the morning I felt somewhat sleepy, and interestingly, I felt butterflies in my stomach. I'm not the nervous type before races, but this time just too many people knew that I was running and they know about my ambitious half marathon goal, so I felt if I ran like 1:15, it would be a disgrace.
I arrived to the parking lot of my workplace (1 mile from race start) at 7:30-ish, and then after a bathroom break, I slowly jogged to the start line. This was a really large race, so I asked around people who already lined up what pace they wanted to run, and when they heard about my sub-7 goal, they all told me to get farther ahead. Until I found myself basically just behind the seeded runners.
At 8:00 (5 minutes before the announced start time) quite unexpectedly, the organizers started the race! I tried to get into a groove, but my Garmin showed I jumped out way too fast, like at sub-6:30 pace. I forced myself to slow down (good decision), so I started to run at pace that felt quite comfortable. Still, finished the first mile quite a bit ahead of pace.
Mile 1: 6:35. (Note: every split I'll give here is by my Garmin, which is not perfectly accurate.)
After the split, I still tried to slow down. Kept telling myself: relax, relax. I thought at this pace I would blow up at the end. At this point we were running on a pretty flat, wide, straight street, and there was a small crowd around me, but there was still plenty of space to run.
Mile 2: 6:38
Still too fast. Relax, relax. The weather was absolutely perfect, 56 degrees and cloudy. I felt fine, but I wanted to slow down, because I knew the hills were coming. I let a whole bunch of people pass me - they ran a smarter race with more even splits. At the end of the mile, the first (not too steep) hill started.
Mile 3: 6:49
OK, this was more like it. At this point I thought there is no need to slow down further. Apparently I was doing better than expected, but that's fine. Clearly the finish was still far away, so I just made sure I don't start to accumulate lactate (I can feel it when it starts).
I ran the course a bunch of times in training so I knew the elevation profile exactly. Miles 4, 5 and 6 are hilly with no flat stretch. But the two hardest hills are the first and the last. The first started now. I knew it was long, so I cut back my pace, and I pictured a big red circular sign with "LACTATE" crossed through in the middle. I picked up some water here and drank 4 or 5 big sips before I threw it away.
Mile 4: 6:49
Nice split! On the top of the hill! In reality it was probably a bit slower, because (I'm guessing) due to the winding road in the park, I didn't run the tangents very well, and my Garmin reached this split before the actual mile marker.
I tried to maintain the effort level, and kept picturing the "no lactate" sign. I think knowing the course was a distinct advantage here, because when I knew a hill was short, I didn't bother to slow down much.
Mile 5: 6:51
I started to get tired, and the second nasty hill was still ahead. But this mile started with a downhill, and I'm a good downhill runner. No braking! It also helped that I realized that my ancient 5 mile PR was 35:xx something, and I just broke it by a big margin (although it doesn't count officially if it's not a 5-mile race).
The nasty hill started, and I turned on my imaginary diesel engines (slower, but strong and steady). No lactate!
Mile 6: 6:48
By this time, my Garmin was significantly ahead of the markers, so I knew that my Garmin "average pace" was not real. I stopped paying attention to that and I just focused on the individual mile splits and the total time, doing the math in my head.
This mile was all downhill. Started steep, then it became rolling, but it was steady down. I turned on the rockets, and I ran like crazy. There was only 4 miles left, and I still felt fine (though a bit tired).
Mile 7: 6:12
Kept going fast, but I was a bit afraid that I could still blow up before the end. It would be a shame to ruin such a great race. I started to feel some side stitches (now where do these come from??). The field thinned out, and I found myself a bit alone, though I never lost sight of other runners. There was a group of 10-20 people ahead of me at a distance starting like 20 yards.
Mile 8: 6:35
Around this mile marker I picked up some water (only the second time in the race). I drank a few sips, but not too many, because I knew there was not really enough time left for the water to get to my blood. I poured the rest on my head: it wasn't warm, but I still started to feel hot doing this pace. I don't exactly know why, but I started to feel worse and worse quite quickly. Side stitches started to really hurt, pain in my legs, cardio system felt like working at maximum level. I switched to 2-1 breathing just before the mile marker (I think), and I started to feel like I was falling apart. But then I told myself: "It wouldn't be a real race if I didn't feel like crap close to the end. Just keep it together." I slowed down a bit to maintain my form, and I started to feel better.
Mile 9: 6:42
Not such a bad split after all! (Though remember, my Garmin was behind in distance.) I didn't have much time to contemplate this, because we went through an overpass, and it was steep. It was also windy, and it was after 9 miles of hard running... still I kept on going, and on the top, I decided to start a careful kick. We were supposed to be 1/2 mile from the finish. I passed a few people, and then when we entered the stadium (the finish line was on the grass of the stadium), I started to run really hard. I almost passed another guy at the finish, but he beat me by a fraction of a second. I think it was really cool to run in the stadium, while people were watching in the audience.
Mile 10: 6:23
Last fraction due to Garmin measurement error or not running tangents: 23 seconds
Finish time: 1:06:49
The race had some 7000 participants, so no award for me this time. I was 101th place overall and 16th in my age group.
Needless to say that this is better than my wildest dreams. It corresponds to 6:41 pace. According to this, I should easily go sub-1:30 in the half marathon. The weather was perfect, but the elevation profile (though not very hard) wasn't the easiest. Let me include a picture for the readers to decide:
The most amazing thing is that I didn't mean to peak for this race, and I didn't feel totally spent at the end. I jogged back to my car as a cooldown, and I'm sure I can do all kinds of chores today. The only body parts of mine that hurt now are my nipples (ouch). I forgot to use Body Glide.
I'm looking forward to the 10K two weeks from now. I believe it's a flat course. Maybe I can go sub-40?
Oh, and one more remark. This race gives you a seeded place if you have a 10-miler of 1:05 or better. It sounds quite tempting... I'm not that far.
