This race report is very overdue......for many reasons. Last week I was sick, my computer at home died, and most of all I did not want to write about this race. On Sunday September 20th Heather, Caitlyn, and I headed to Gloucester for the USATFNE 10k championships at the Lone Gull 10k. We got there nice and early and got a good parking spot in the Good Harbor Beach parking area. This is a beautiful beach as you can see in the picture to the left. The goal for this race was to run hard and fast! Go after a PR (sub 32:34) and see what kind of shape all my hard work has left me in. I really wanted to run a good race and have a good performance.
After a quick warm up with some teammates, I got changed into my singlet and racing shoes and started heading over towards the starting area which was a good distance away....about halfway there I noticed something.....I had forgot my timing chip!!! I had about 6 minutes to get my chip and back to the start. So I got in a little bit of "tempo" work as I ran back to the car and back to the start. I got to the starting line just in time for the 9am start just to find out it was going to be delayed for a few minutes. Man that was stupid.....not a good way to start out.
After a few minutes of delay the race went off. Pretty quickly I settled in with a group of Whirlaway teammates Brandon Newbould, Joe Navas, Dan Princic, and Pat Ard. The pace felt quick, but comfortable. We went by the first mile in 5:00......quick but not surprising considering the competition at this race. Over the next mile I stayed with this group of teammates and we passed the 2 mile mark in 5:13. The next mile I let Dan and Brandon pull away a bit while I stayed with Joe and Jon Healey. The third mile went by in 5:08, and the half way mark (5k) in 15:57. At this point I was feeling worked but I was also very excited with how things were going...I was on my way to a good one! The next mile had a few hills and I was working to stay with Joe, we went by the 4 mile mark in 5:22....a bit off pace, but from everyone I talked to this was the slowest mile for everyone. A bit after the 4 mile mark I started getting a cramp in my side...yes...a side stitch. I can't remember the last time I had a side stitch......isn't that for out of shape people? Over the next mile I tried to fight it off, but each breath I took made it worse and worse....soon Joe was gone and soon other runners started passing me. The fifth mile went by in 5:20....total time was 26:04. I still had 6 minutes and 30 seconds to cover the last 1.2 miles and get to the finish line and get a PR. If I could run another 5:25 pace the rest of the way I could make it. Well........it was not to be. I cover the 6th mile in a very ugly 5:36 and the last .2 miles in 70 seconds to finish 33rd overall in 32:49. Lots of people went by me in the last 1.2 miles including Pat who ended up running a great race. The last part of this race was torture, my side stitch just got worse as I tried to fight it. each breathe felt like someone was stabbing me in the ribs......not being able to breathe all that well....not so good for trying to run fast and deliver oxygen to those working muscles. It was tough watching my race go to crap and losing a great shot at a PR.I was really disappointed with this race for a while. After having some time to let it settle in, I believe this was not that bad of a result. Even though I had a hellish last 2 miles or so I was still only 15 seconds short of my PR and it was still my 3rd fastest 10k ever. I never really felt like my legs were hurting, I really feel that if it wasn't for that cramp I would be writing about a PR right now. I know I can run faster than this, and I know I am in good shape, its just that I wanted a good confidence booster before running Baystate in a few weeks. I still think I can run a good marathon and attack my marathon PR there in a few weeks.
Splits:
No comments:
Post a Comment