Derby City 10K Race Report
Goal: sub-45.
Maybe this goal sounds soft, but given my current form, this is all I was hoping for. Still at peak mileage, I've had lots of cumulative fatigue, and somehow I can't seem to run fast nowadays.
I got up early, as usual, ate a good amount, and was out of the house by 6:00. The race was scheduled to start at 7:30. I parked the car at 6:15, and I departed for my 2-mile warmup. Very soon, I met with Craig (one of my running club bodies), who also did a warmup, although his was really a long run before the race. So I jogged with him a little. Then jogged around in the dark Waterfront Park to get to 2 miles. Just before I finished, I met Jessica (another teammate), who told me that due to impending thunderstorms, the start was delayed, and now it's scheduled for 8:00.
Around 7:15 we had a group photo, and then around 7:20, and I decided it's time to jog a little more to avoid cooling down entirely. But only a few minutes in, the thunderstorm hit, and I hurried back into the building of Slugger Field to watch the storm in desperation.
We got another delay notice: this time for 8:15. At 7:53, near the start line, I did my third warmup by jogging up and down a single block, next to the Angel's Envy distillery.
When I finished, I hurried into my corral. I lined up a little too close to the start, and I went out with the people doing sub-7 pace. I wanted to start at 7:15-ish, but got carried away, and my pace information was quite unreliable in the first few hundred yards, so I ran a first mile that was too fast, even though I let dozens of people pass me.
Mile 1: 6:58
I mean, I felt fine, but I knew I had no stamina, and my cumulative fatigue is real. So I tried to slow down, while managing the pace. Tried to focus on *comfortably* hard. We ran through downtown, with many 90 degree turns around the blocks. People still regularly passed me. I reminded myself just how much is left!
Mile 2: 7:01
Well, that's not much slower! I though I might try to hang on to that place, but again--it wouldn't have worked. So just relax, and be "comfortable".
During these miles many teammates passed me. All the more embarrassing.
Mile 3: 7:10
Finally, this sounds reasonable. We were back on Main St, a place I've seen a thousand times, but somehow nothing registered. In fact, I only noticed runners and myself. I sometimes tried to use other runners to pace me, but nobody had the right pace. Only one time I tried more seriously to tuck myself behind another guy, when we had some stronger headwind.
I noticed that one teammate, Alec, who passed me a was pulling away, didn't seem to pull away any more. I figured that I could try to get paced by him, if I can catch him. I slowly reeling him in, but by that time, he was definitely too slow for me, so I just passed him. He didn't end up having a good race.
Mile 4: 7:08
This split was assisted by a little downhill, so it's not actually faster. About the same as Mile 3. We hit the hard part of the course: a hilly out-and-back. I managed my effort, especially uphill. This was on Adams St, and the hills are very familiar to me. I saw the leaders, and then several fast teammates coming back.
Mile 5: 7:20
We turned around, and did the hills backwards. They felt easier this way, but maybe only because the finish line was closer. I was still running in a group of people, with spectators on the sidelines, and I was content in knowing that I'm pretty much guaranteed to be under 45 minutes.
Mile 6: 7:15
Left turn to the uphill finish line. Not long, but always a favorite!
Last 0.22: 1:40
Official chip time saved me 3 seconds at 44:29. That's a very satisfying result, and although going out fast wasn't ideal, I was able to moderate my pace quickly enough, and my heart rate was amazingly consistent during the race. This is probably not the fastest way to run a 10K, but it's still good training.
I had to go back to the car and then again to the finish line to change, and pick up my phone and stuff. It was OK. Also absolutely necessary, because I was soaked through completely. We tailgated a bit in the parking lot with the crew. That was great fun!
And I had a 17-miler coming up the following day!
