2016 Good Neighbor Day 10K, July 4
Only Opportunity For 10K This Year
This was a race I did not feel like running, feeling ambivalent about my only opportunity to race a 10K this year to keep my streak of running my age in minutes in a 10K continuing or letting it lapse and run a workout more suited to training for my next ultra. Still I could use a workout more like a tempo run and I should be able to run 1:09 while keeping the first 4+ miles in check and not push until the last mile or two.
I woke up to temperatures that sounded cool considering this was the Fourth of July and this race has historically been hot and sunny. Unfortunately being partly cloudy to overcast also made it very humid. It was not going to be a comfortable race regardless of the effort I put into it. After registering I dumped the goodie bag in the car and started my warm up. I was flat, no spring, warm up pace was slow, and I generally felt unready for any sort of effort. Those back to back interval and fartlek workouts on Wednesday and Thursday look like they will haunt me today.
After the horn sounded to start the race it seemed like forever to reach the starting line. When I did I understood better the pre-race instructions to move to the left to be sure to cross the starting mats. Unlike most races and from what I remember from prior years, the timing mats did not extend all the way across the street. When I completed the first 5K lap I then saw that the mats were being used strictly for the start and finish; there would be no intermediate lap times recorded. As is usual with a race like this there were always some people who ignored the directive for walkers to move to the back at the start. It wasn't that much of a bother at the pace I was running, but there were also a lot of young kids running next to their parents and they were often difficult to get around.
The first mile was congested and moving slowly. I saw my usual training partner from the Wednesday night track workouts and gave brief consideration to running with her, but after a quick gut check of the effort I was exerting and the pace I was running, I quickly dismissed that. Aside from having to break quickly when someone slowed to a walk directly in front of me at a water stop a half mile into the race, the first mile was uneventful but slow, 10:50; still fast enough for my goal but after the way I slowed in the Nun Run 5K, I wasn't overly confident that I could maintain the pace. The course has a reputation for being flat and fast, and compared to most courses in this area, that's probably true, the there are some long gradual inclines in mile 2 which I ran in 11:12. That put me very close to my absolute goal pace to run my age in minutes for the race. I didn't realize how close since the splits I'm referencing here are adjusted from Garmin times and the Garmin distance of 6.31 miles on the certified course. It gave me a false sense of security since my first two Garmin splits where 10:41 and 11:03. The third mile is more downhill than uphill so my pace picked up a little. The third mile (adjusted) was 10:56 and I finished the first 5K lap in 34:13. Shortly into the second lap a couple passed me and I tried to keep pace with them. As it turned out I'm a better downhill runner and would move ahead until they caught me on the hills while I was still under cruise control and not yet pushing for the finish. Even so I was slowing and the next mile was 11:06. Coming into mile 5 I had the long gradual inclines again and I started to push the pace more. There was another older gentleman just ahead and I preferred to open a gap rather than rely on a sprint finish. Even up hill I increased the pace slightly for an 11:01 but between the increasing heat and the humidity and leg fatigue I was wondering if I'd pushed too soon and might not be able to hold the pace the rest of the way. Fortunately with the course layout there's a downhill shortly after mile 5 where I could open it up a little, then after another long gradual inclined stretch, another short downhill where I could stretch out and pick up the pace. After that only two more small hills and then the final sprint to the finish. One benefit of being so slow this year was not having to weave through walkers and stollers while trying to sprint. The downhill stretches helped me through a 10:51 sixth mile and then I kicked it in over the last 2 tenths at about 10:00 pace for a final time of 1:08:05 and a mild negative split because of the final sprint (34:13, 33:52).
After getting some cold water and recovering from the post race dizziness, I got a printout of my results. They must have made some corrections later because when I checked online I had moved up from 5th to 4th in my age group and from 156 to 153 overall. I did reach my primary goal of running my age or faster in minutes but it was harder and slower than what I'd hoped for. One encouraging note was the negative split. Looking forward I'd like to get in another trail race before the Elkhorn 50K, before turning my attention to North Coast 24.
