RESULTS:
1st in AG out of 8
2nd overall out of 223 runners
Time: 40:16
http://www.sportstats.ca/displayResults ... ode=104242
In many ways I can relate this race to my 2012 10km debut which was the Richmond Road 10km in January. For instance before both races, I had been losing weight and had weighed 167lbs on race day. In both races, I was training myself back from an injury that occurred approximately one month or so before hand (shoe related injuries for 2013 vs over-training related injuries in 2012). And in both races I had run similar times (40:16 in 2013 vs 40:28 in 2012).
However the similarities end there and with that, here is my Manotick RR
RACE REPORT
Pre-race:
Coming into this race, I had set myself some pretty ambitious goals. Although I wasn't expecting a podium spot (a quick check on Sportstats revealed that this would've required running a 36 minute 10km in the 2012 race!), I had nonetheless set myself a speedy time goal of 38 minutes. My training coming into this race consisted mostly of two weeks of very easy running with a one week break in between, for a total of 170 km (95km first week, 75 in the next). I had also done three quality runs at < 4:00 / km on the track in my new hybrid-minimalist shoes
(I had bought a pair of Brooks 7oz PureConnect running shoes after my VFF's experiment / disaster). RACE START:
Anyway fast forward to April 28th 8:40 am, I'm standing at the front of the crowd of runners at the start line. Although
this race had a decent size field and 2012's results looked impressive, most of the people standing at the front were kids! Yes the front of the start line made the race look like some grade 8-9 High School meet! There were some adults there too and I even cleverly identified a tall older runner who had a good runners physique wearing compression socks, who I predicted would be my main rival for this race (assuming there were no good runners standing in the crowd behind me that is).
The gun goes off and sure enough all the kids race to the lead. For awhile I'm in 4th or 5th place and up the road I can see a girl who looks 12 or 13. Ahead of her, I see a couple of 11-12 year olds following an older blond-haired boy who I figure to be around 14-15 years old.
I didn't wear a watch for this race as I was worried my 38-minute time goal might pressure me into disaster. Nevertheless I ran a constant effort from the start and within minutes the three pre-teens had slowed and fallen behind me. Somewhere around the 1 or 2km I had caught the 14-15 year old on an incline. I knew he must've been suffering since I'm pretty slow on the inclines compared to equal competition.
From 2-4 km, I was in the lead! For a little while, I was certain I was going to win the race. The thought occurred in my head that I was possibly running very fast since the winning time last year was 35:44! Deep down though I knew I wasn't going that fast. The course wasn't very hilly, but it was very rolling with a likely gradient between -3% --- +3% for many parts. It was also starting to become a little bit obvious that my PureConnect running shoes didn't fare as well on pavement as they did on the softer manicured in-door track where I had done all of my previous faster runs.
I could see the slender older runner who I had mentioned earlier slowly making his way up to me (he was wearing compression socks, so I'm going to call him "sock-man" from now on). For a little while, it wasn't obvious that he was
gaining any ground on me. The course was on a decline and I suspect this allowed me to keep my distance. However
before the race got to the 4km mark, the gradient had changed and we were now running up an incline which allowed
him to catch me
From 4 to 5 km is where this race was really decided. There was a little bit of chatter going on back and forth
between us. Even though there was virtually no head wind, I said I would try to draft behind him. I said this in the hopes that it would encourage him to make the oxygen-depriving mistake of trying to get away from me by running hard up the hill that would eventually be approaching us
In the end nothing worked. We stayed together until a little after 5km, but sock man was just a wee bit too fast. He never made any obvious surges or increased efforts on the hills or anywhere. His kept a constant pace / effort which was unfortunately just 1-2% more than I was capable of matching.
The last 6-10km were uneventful. No one else was anywhere close to the two of us, and very slowly but surely sock man continued to put feet and then metres of distance between us. He would eventually finish 30 seconds ahead of me in 39:46.
Post-race:
Someone from the media took a photo of myself and sock man with each others arms around the others shoulders.
Sock-man also cleverly guessed that I was a track runner because I ran with a mid-foot strike. His observation really had me thinking that perhaps I'm spending too much time at the track
. My gf was very happy with my finish which made me happy. This put me in a better mood, as I was very briefly upset coming through the finish line and seeing over 40 minutes on the race clock (given my second place, I was sort of expecting a 37:xx). I was even more elated when they later announced that the 5km race was really 5.5km. I thought "yes, perhaps this means that my race was really 11km!!!!!" However MP from Euro-Sport who was working for Sport-stats that day said she had measured it as being about 10.2km on her garmin. In my heart, I suspect it really was exactly 10km or only just a tad over this.
Anyway, good race, good placeing, good sunny day and a good start to compare upcoming 10km races too. The Early Bird Triathlon on May 18th is next. Stay tuned
!
.............I'll be sure to try again though!