Sun May 6th - 10 Mile - 14.5mi

Time of day 6:15 PM
Distance 10.00 mi
Shoe Lunaracer+ 2 (NLR)
WUCD Shoe Lunaracer+ 2 (NLR)
Distance WU/CD 4.50 mi
Comments 3 Mile warm-up with strides.

Not a fun race. I knew I was in for a world of pain using this race as a rust buster, being my first competition of the year with minimal workouts up to pace. I was hoping for the best and that I would miraculously feel good during the race through 5, then make my move. Not the case.

Went out quick with the mob, dragged through in 5:10. I felt inclined to break from my initial plan of hitting 5:25 due to the female presence kicking my heels through the first 20 mins or so. A small Ethiopian lady felt the need to ride my heels literally kicking the bottom of my feet every stride from mile 2-3.5 despite her unbelievably heavy breathing. In any other case elbows would have been thrown, but I didnt want to break the poor girl in half. By 4 miles she was lost out the back, but in the mean time 2 other women passed me, putting about a 50 meter gap between us. This is unacceptable. I never found a rhythm and was suffering with cramps and fatigue through 5 Miles in about 27:12. I was hoping to hit 26:40 before kicking it into the finish but it was clear by then that it wasnt going to happen.

I fought back with faith that I would find my stride eventually. I got a taste of motivation when I caught the first girl, while closing hard on the next. Dropped a 5:14 on Mile 6 catching the lead female and a group of guys. Kept moving but continued to suffer horribly, determined to clear myself of the potential shame of getting girled. Once I cleared the pace car by mile 7 I knew I was good. Held on for a sluggish sub 55 clocking way back in 60th place or so.

Not fun, out of form. Time for some workouts and shorter 5K-10K races to get the turnover back. Even though inconsistency in my training has occurred with work, I was pleased with my base, recovering quickly after crossing the line and taking an easy 1.5-2 mile jog. Should have been better in perfect conditions, but the fight was there and now there is something to work towards.

Splits:

5:10
5:22
5:33
5:40
5:29
5:14
5:24
5:33
5:35
5:30
powered by RunPartner.com