Ni!

Saturday, October 20, 2007

~50:45 :: Red River Run 15k + (1st)

Well, a good day weather-wise, an okay day physically, and a bad day for logistics. The weather was great, about 45F, overcast, with a light breeze, 6-8mph according to reports. Couldn't ask for anything better in October--just a great day to run. The course was hillier than advertised, being held in the same park as the Prairie Rose 5k I ran earlier this summer, rather than the original (traditional?) country highway. Not a fast, flat course, but more of an easy roller.

Physically, I just didn't have it today. I could muster about half-marathon pace before my breathing would go crazy on me, which stopped me pushing my intended 5:15 goal pace. I made it two miles on pace, and with my breathing more like the last stages of a 10k, I knew I wouldn't last long without pulling back and reassessing the goal. My legs felt great. Plenty of gas and feeling strong the whole way, which was too bad. So, overall, the cold is still affecting my lungs, but my legs were feeling good. Here's the breakdown:

Max HR: 173

5:14.8(165) | 5:16.2(170) | 5:27.0(170) 5K-16:33
5:20.0(169) | 5:27.8(167) | 5:24.4(167) 10K-33:14
5:30.2(168) | 5:29.2(167) | 5:29.0(168)

I didn't get the split for the last stretch or an actual final time because my watch didn't get stopped properly (or a button got hit and it started up again). Also, the finish timer apparently didn't work, because they had my time at the awards as 57:05, which, as it happens, was ten seconds *slower* than second place. Hmmmm...

You might have noticed the + after the 15k up top. Unfortunately, the lead cyclist took me off course with just over a mile to go (up a steep hill, no less). After about 100m I realized that we were coming in on the finish of the first loop, which would put me over 3/4 mile short of the 15k. I told the biker we must have gone off course, and fortunately we were able to drop down a steep embankment back onto the correct finish loop, adding just about 80 meters to the course, maybe 15 seconds. I had already been frustrated with watching my lofty (sub-49) and reasonable (49:30) goals slip away, so rather than get pissed off about missing my cold-comfort goal (sub-50), I just had to laugh it off. No use getting worked up about it, as a number of other factors combined to make it 'not my day' well before the logistical snafu.

The end result is a new, easy to crack 15k PR, and a good overall experience at a really great race with a lot of history. Next year, I'll shoot for sub-48! haha

Have a great weekend, and stay healthy everyone!

Ohana 1
10 miles


Run Two | Weather | Supplemental | Nutrition | Sleep | Injury

4 comments:

Mike said...

It's a shame they changed the course, but I'm glad you were able to roll with it and claim another victory. Also, it's a bummer about the cold still lingering, but a win is a win.

Sounds like you've got a jump on enjoying the weekend. I'll bet you recover quickly from this one too if the legs didn't get taxed too much.

Eric said...

The legs feel great this morning, so that is a plus. I didn't even do a cold bath.

Now I'm focused on maintaining and staying (getting) healthy for the Veteran's Day XC 8K in about three weeks. Very excited about running well there and finishing my racing season on a positive.

RICK'S RUNNING said...

NICE RACE,I JUST RAN A 35 MIN 10K FOR THE FIRST TIME IN OVER 3 YEARS, AND AM ONLY 8 WEEKS INTO MY ARTHUR LYDIARD BASE TRAINING.
SO ARTHURS TRAINING WORKS FOR SURE.
RICK

Thomas said...

Only you can run with a cold, on a hilly course, take a wrong turn and still win comfortably.

Congratulations!