Now back to the Summer of 2013...
After that 8K Strava challenge on August 5th, a Monday, I had a little less than two weeks to really get ready for my first real race that would happen Sunday August 18th.
Don't remember if I even looked at a training plan or not but with only 13 days to go, there just wasn't enough time to get involved with one. I just kept on running every other day but started adding more tempo work at the pace I thought I could be able to sustain in that 10K. I ran two separate 10K runs in the week leading to the race.
Here's the race report I posted after that race:
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http://connect.garmin.com/activity/361043024
Well, it's done, the first race is in the books! Official time (from chip) comes to 46:09, VERY proud of this time.
I usually don't do much warmup but this race situation forced me to do some reading and everything I'd read about 5k and 10k races said a mile or two was ok, while some runner almost ran for 20-30 minutes before their race, with some race pace strides in there. Ended up doing four race pace strides at the end of 2 km and I now know the importance of a good warmup. That 2 km was done at an average of 6 min/km (9:39 per mile or so), strides included...
After that warmup which ended with maybe 8-10 minutes to go before the start, I kept active in line for the start, keeping my HR at about 125-128 and I started with a solid pace at about 4:31 (7:16 per mile) or so for the first 5 km then slowed down just a bit and had a VERY good last km (4:24 according to my watch).
Amazing experience, there's really something special about running in the middle of people at the start, then settling in a good spot and sometimes passing some slightly slower runners. I didn't know what to expect at first and it was just a bundle of people so I almost got stuck behind some slower people, especially on a part of the course that was narrower, but it all worked itself out and it was some tough fun
I was following a faster lady around the 9th km when I really started pushing. She was probably pushing too for a little while until I really got on to her and she just said and low "go, get it!" That was about all I needed to gun the last 400m.
It was also very nice that my wife, my two sons and even my mother-in-law where there to cheer me on. Since it was a 5k loop with some double passes, they were able to see me 4 times and I commented to my wife after the race that every time I'd pass in front of them, I'd look at my watch for my current pace and it would automatically shoot up to about 4:05 or 4:10 per km.
Website with results isn't up but from the sheet at the race site, I finished 70th, 60th among men, 11th among men 40-49. There were 249 registered runners for the 10k last year and based on my initial goal of 47:40 I was simply hoping to make it into the top 100. Happy with #70
Some may remember my heart rate usually never really going up there, well, it did go up today. Average HR of 160 with max of 169...
Overall a very nice experience!
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Final results: 46:09.8, average pace of 4:37/km (7:26/mile)
Overall: 69/247, or in top 27.9%
Men: 60/160, or in top 37.5%
Men 40-49: 11/38 or in top 28.9%
Looking back I'm just as proud now of that first race as I was back then. It was a pretty hot day for a first race... Heck, that was 4 seconds per km better than that 8K challenge I'd done only a couple weeks prior...
Here are some pics from that race
Standing in line for start, looking serious and focused
Again more of the serious type
Time stamp is about 10:25 so about 5-6 km into the race:
After the last turn and entering the very last 200-300 meters
Going full out now, do or die time!
After race smile
More after race smile, from up close, thanks to my photographer, my 16yo son
Sweaty hug for my greatest supporter, my wife of 16 years
And even a sweaty after race kiss
My wife ended up framing that first bib and it's still on our bedroom wall:
FM