10K day! I had myself way too worked up over this race, because I just knew that I couldn't do the 7:33 pace. I just determined to give it my best shot, stay on pace, and hold it as long as I could. I'm VERY unfamiliar with this distance; I've only run one 10K before, and I sort of don't get this distance. A 5K I get, just run fast and short; a 10K seems too long for that, so you are constantly holding back a bit. Anyway, I started out a wee bit fast, from excitement, but brought it under control in the first 1/2 mile First two miles were just a touch under pace, but that worked out fine, since the middle 2.5 miles were out on the open flats through fields and the head winds were strong enough to knock me over. So I slowed a bit in these miles. A man began drafting off of me here, which is OK, except that he refused to switch leads and give me a break. If I pulled back, he slowed WAY down and dropped behind me. I didn't say anything, just ran and pulled him along through the last 4 miles of the race. I saw him afterwards in the gym and I said "nice race, did you have fun?" He goes: "yeah, nice pace". No thank you or anything. I forgave him later when I realized he was probably a new runner and I just helped him a bit is all. Anyhow, I DID KEEP MY PACE all the way to the end! Surprise, surprise. And a nice little sprint the last 200m as well. Finish time was 47:14; only second in AG, but I'm really pleased with how I ran this race. I saw the woman in my AG ahead of me, and I didn't try to catch her; just stayed on pace. I'm happy with the consistent splits in spite of the headwinds, and very pleased to have conquered my fear of the pace. I was so afraid that I almost ran the 5K instead! I don't know if I'll ever really like this distance, but I think I learned a little how to run it. |