10k Race Report

This past Sunday was our local Run for Retina - proceeds going to... wait for it... retina research! The event has many options for all levels of runners - a 2.5k, 5k, 10k, and a half marathon - and it is a very well organized event. There is also some kind of scamper for the kiddies. I opted for the 10k - I think I could have (maybe?) completed the half marathon, but there likely would have been a bit (or a lot) of walking. Considering my Sunday long run is only up to about 16k at this point, I think the 10k was a good call. Besides, I did a 10k in April/07 and much like the earlier 5k race, I was very interested in seeing what kind of progress I had made in the last year. Last year's spring 2007 10k time = 57:34. My race didn't start until 9:30, but with limited parking I wanted to get there early. The weather didn't look promising early on, as there was a snow/rain mix falling and it was cold. So much for wearing shorts. It didn't really clear up until later in the day, but the precipitation did stop before the gun went off. I had set a goal of 50 minutes early in the year for this race. Based on my 5k race time of 24:18, I knew it would be tough to achieve. I didn't really have a plan for the race - just don't go out too hard at the beginning... keep the HR in control. Well, much like the 5k, there's no way I could have gone out very hard at the beginning... everyone was trying to stay on the narrow path, since the surrounding grass was mostly mud. This made for a very tight (and slow) pack. I passed the first km marker in 5:33... sheesh. Ok, time to pick it up. My HR was only 158 - so I knew I wasn't really pushing it, since it averaged 166 for the 5k race a few weeks ago. So for the next few km I tried to increase my effort without it turning into an all-out sprint. I was successful, in that over the next 4k, my time for each km was less than the one before. They had 2 aid stations, each to be passed twice on the out & back course. When I'm out for a 10k run on my own I don't take any water or other fuel, so I wasn't going to grab anything. But I figured that for longer races in the future I would likely be grabbing all I could get my hands on, so I took something as practice and tried to run and drink at the same time. I did ok, not choking and not spilling too much on myself... I used the "squish the cup, hold it sideways, take small sips, and don't inhale at the exact time the liquid flows into your mouth" method. Seemed to work. Meanwhile, my HR seemed to be staying at around 160... given the 166 average for the 5k, I didn't know if I should be pushing the pace more or not. It seemed reasonable that with twice as far to run, my pace would be a little slower, and therefore my HR would be, too. It seemed to make sense, but I really had no idea. The only times it really increased was up a small, steep hill, and at one point along a long stretch of path that was down the middle of a huge, open field (between 2 soccer fields, actually) and was slightly uphill and into a very stiff wind. There was a point on the course where we ran through a tunnel which was going under some railway tracks. I knew from earlier scouting that after the tunnel there would be less than 2k to go, so my plan was to exit the tunnel at a faster pace than I entered it. I don't know what my pace was for the final 2k, since I forgot to check my watch at the 8k mark just before we entered the tunnel. Smart! But my effort increased and so did my heart rate, and I finished strong, so I was relatively happy. Final time = 51:35 -- about 6 minutes better than last year, or about a 10% improvement. This is consistent with the improvement in my earlier 5k race time over 2007. Average HR for the race was 160, max was 170. I was a little disappointed in not getting down to 50 minutes. I spent some time on the drive home wondering where I could have shaved off an additional 1:35 (other than just the old adage, "run faster"). Maybe starting a little quicker, and maybe trying to keep my HR a little higher for the duration of the race. I don't know... it would seem that my body is just not ready to run that fast... yet. Next race is the Mission Bay Aquathon in San Diego when I'm on vacation, April 27. A 1000m swim followed by a 5k run. Can't wait!