Short-changed - The 2010 Backs in Motion 10k Race Report

It was time to open the account for the season. It felt a little like checking my 403(b) balance during the economic recovery. It's pretty good, but I swear there should have been more there.

Unfortunately, my running has been a little up and down this spring. I've had some hip and foot issues, gotten sick, and crashed my bike, and it always seems that I lose out on the running. I've also worked more on building base and less speed work, hoping that the bigger engine will pay off on race day.

But it didn't, but we'll get to that in a second.

Race was morning was better than the day before, but still a bit cool and with good wind out of the north. The course started with 2km on the road, trending downhill with a tailwind, then a 3km out-and-back on park paths, before meeting up with the 5k runners to continue on the paths, now heading into the wind (and gently uphill). I got about 2.5km of warm-up, including a couple of 30-60 second pickups to race speed, and felt pretty good. I had a rough goal of 39:00, give or take a bit. I would have loved 38:20 (3:50/km average), but that may have been tough with weather and hills. All set, and we were sent off with little fanfare for the 10k run.

The race starts going up a hill, which helps calm the runners down, then follows a hilly but more down than up path to the 2k mark. Given that, and the tailwind, I was comfortable with 3:45/3:47 for the first couple of splits. I had fallen into about 12th place within the first few hundred meters, kind of the tail end of the fast-movers. Very slowly, I picked my way up the group as other runners slowed down. I was still in 3:50-3:55 range here, except for one km with a steep climb to it (4:07).

As expected in a 10k, things started to get tough around the 5km mark. My breathing was starting to get ragged, and I could feel the wind and the slight incline we'd be dragging up the rest of the way. I had one other runner about 20 seconds in front of me to mark, although the twisty trail made it difficult to keep him in sight. It got harder once we integrated with the 5k runners. We were moving a fair bit faster then they were, luckily there weren't so many that the filled the path, and I could continue to move up. Pace now had inched over 4:00/km and I was fighting. I just couldn't seem to get a good spring going out of my legs. Around 9.5k, I saw my mark by the side of the path, bent over. It's a cheap way to gain a placing, but it counts, right? But he recovered fast as I passed him, since he was suddenly on my shoulder, then went flying up the road, to beat me by 12 seconds. I dragged myself to the finish in a respectable, but behind goal, time of 39:40.

OK, I went sub-40, which is always the minimum goal (outside of "finish without injury"). And 39:40 is a modern PR. And 6th OA was good enough to win my AG and an Obus Forme pillow. All very good things. But I've averaged 3:59/km for a hilly 7km triathlon run, why can't I go faster than 3:58/km on a open 10k? I did finish behind projections based on my Tower of Terror 13k time, so I may have actually lost fitness. Obviously, something isn't working right, and it's time for more experimentation.

The first thing I'm doing is getting off the treadmill. I need to fix my form on the road, and generate more power in each stride. So it's all outdoors, all the time from now on. And I'm going to replace my planned M-pace and T-pace speed work with a bunch of 200s and 400s at VO2max speed. Runs will either be easy, long with moderate efforts, or really fast. No more middle speed. I'll be following this to the mid-summer mark, then it's the next chance to find out how things are going.

Results:
39:40 (3:58/km avg), 6th OA, 2nd M30-39 (awarded 1st)

Look at me! I'm racing!! (Maybe)

Check out the sidebar. There is now an updated "tentative race schedule" for this year. Pretty exciting, eh?

So far this has been a season of ups and downs, with some great fitness gains, and some really annoying injuries/sicknesses that have caused some setbacks. Still, I feel like I'm making some good progress, and I'm looking forward to some opportunities to show that off.

The only guarantee on there is the first one. I'm actually registered, and it's really unlikely that the baby will show up before then. Then you'll notice the big break. That's because I'm assuming things will be (more than) a bit hectic for a while, so who knows what kind of training I can get in? Or time away to play "Racerman"? Hopefully, I'll still have enough legs and lungs to make it to a couple of shorter triathlons this year, but those won't get a decision until the week or two before.

After Muskoka (assuming I do it), I think I'm going to switch to a run-focus for a couple of months, and see what I can do in some fall races, gearing up for a fast half-marathon. Nothing that requires much travel, except maybe if I sneak down to London. (That's right, Mark, I'm knocking you back a place. But I'll buy lunch if you go under 22.)

Of course, all this is dependent on the whims of the wife and wee one. (Holy Alliteration Batman!) But that's the roughed out schedule. If I can learn to run fast this fall, I'll quit losing two minutes to the fast guys in my AG next year. Just one minute. Then I can get all the 2nds and 3rds I missed last year. First Loser FTW!