So I was basically "dared" into racing this morning. At computrainer on Wed. morning Chad kept taunting me telling me I should go out and run the NCO 10k in Naperville which took place this morning. And seeing as it's for a good cause, and because I couldn't back down from the challenge I decided to race. I think I have only run an official 10k one time, and that was back in college. My running has been going well, but has been stagnant lately. That happens with me...and I'm pretty sure a lot of people too. Back to the race. My mom was awesome and came to watch me race, and to hang out with the pups while I ran. Thanks Mom it was so nice to have you there watching me race! Thanks to Lululemon I not only had the most comfortable running clothes, but I was also the most stylish. I mean check it out, seriously does it get any better than that? Also a big thanks to GU for my roctane to give me the boost I needed and to Brooks for my sweet running flats. Here are a few pics from the day:
!
The pups waiting...
Thanks Lululemon, most comfortable running clothing, and most stylish as well!
They didn't have a 2nd place overall trophy, so instead I got one telling me that I won my division. It's always nice to get some hardware!!
My plan was to head out with the leaders and to see how long I could hang. Well the horn sounded and I set off with one other guy, we opened a small gap on the people behind us relatively early on...probably because we went through the first half mile at around a 5:15 pace. I thought if the pace stayed there I was screwed!! The pace slowed down slightly, and I was shoulder to shoulder with this guy for the great majority of the race. It was cool running behind the motorcycles, which is an experience which I hope to have again at some point. We went through the first mile right at 5:49, alright let's see if I can hang with that. We were still together and went through the second mile in 5:51...I was hoping it would have slowed down...nope. Mile 3 was a little break...5:54 and at this point it was about holding on. I was already at a PR for the 5k distance with that pace so I wasn't sure what to expect the second half of the race. Well Mile 4 was right back at a 5:51 pace, and the finish started creeping into my mind, at this point I realized we had dropped everyone and it was just the two of us. We would both put small surges in and we would each answer. Mile 5 was back at 5:53 and it started up a bridge on an overpass over I-88. The guy surged and I had no answer. He put a small gap on me and I didn't have the extra gear to go and get him. I was ticked and had puke in my throat, stomach started cramping, everything was hurting, I just couldn't bring him back. Mile 6 was a 5:54, the slowest mile of the day, we had caught the 5k group at that point and it was constant weaving in and out. So trying to catch this dude and weave just wasn't working that well.
I ended up with a PR of 36:24 which was good enough for 2nd place overall. I don't know how many people raced, but that doesn't matter. I'm happy that I was able to get a PR and to finish in the top 3 overall, as that was a goal I had for the season. I know where I'm lacking...speed work. I had no kick, no way to answer. My tempo and threshold type of work has paid off as I was able to hold a steady state (I mean shoot my mile times didn't change more than 5 seconds the whole race) now it's time to add the speed stuff in.
Congrats to Chad and Dave who put in an awesome effort and were in the top 15 overall, as well as Jenny Garrison who won the female overall top 10 overall too, and Blaine, Dean, Cari and whoever else I might have missed here.
Thanks again Mom for coming to the race, it was nice to have you there, and I'm sure the pups appreciated it!
Before I forget, yesterday was an awesome day of riding! I ended up riding for 4 hours on the computrainer and rode through the following set twice:
10' warm up
7' @ 70%
3' RI
8' @ 80%
2' RI
9' @ 90%
1' RI
10' @ AT
1' RI
9' @ 90%
2' RI
8' @ 80%
3' RI
7' @ 70%
Cool Down
I rode this with the 6 a.m. class and then had planned to ride tempo for the 8 a.m. class, but decided to do it again. And as my luck would have it I was faster during the 2nd class. Solid day and my biking is starting to come around I think.
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