Monday, August 4, 2014

North Andover 4th of July 10k

Next up, the 10k on the 4th of July in North Andover, MA. This was mostly for fun and was the first time I had trained over-distance for a 10k (I never used to run more than five or possibly six miles at a time). And, again, I had Ellen with me running the companion race (a 5k). Given that I had run an 8:40 pace for the 10 miler a few weeks before, and I had lost some more weight in the meantime, I was hoping I could break 50 minutes on the 10k, which would involve an approximately 8 minute mile pace.

I came close to my pace goal, but ended up running a 50:19 at an 8:06 pace. Ellen ran a PR for the 5k at 25:59. The 10k wasn't an easy course, featuring some serious hills, including a good climb towards the end. As usual for me - and as happened on the 10 miler - I started the race slowly and spent the race passing people, negative splitting the second half of the race. I know I'm losing some time starting so slowly, but even when I put in a good warmup (I warmed up a half mile for this race and then a lot of stretching) I never start quickly. This was true going all the way back to my teenage running days.

In any case, I was already a long way from the behemoth who ran a 10:24 pace for the 5 miler in 2012.

No comments:

Post a Comment