Started out a little too fast, as race started i felt i was being held up by the group a little so i passed a couple people and took my spot at he side of the trail and tried to find my pace. After a few hundred yards people started passing me. I thought I had found my pace so i stuck with it. I was worried about my HR, it was in the high 170s and i had planned on running in the low 160s. My PE we good so i ignored the HR monitor readings. As long as i can continue to run confortably while breathing through my nose only I feel i am not over exerting myself. A few times during the race I do this as a test for about 15 seconds to make sure i am ok if i think i may be going too fast.

My training for this race had gone pretty well, but it was a big step up for me in distance. My previous races included a 10k about 5 months ago and the run segments in sprint triathlons. I hadn't run more than 10k in training until a month before the race when i began my 'crash training'.

My race goal was 1:45 to 1:50. I really thought I should be able to break 1:50 but when i plugged in my 10k times into pace calculators they were telling me i was capable of 1:45. This seemed a bit much due to my lack of experience at this distance. As the race got closer i decided, "Screw it, i am gonna run 5:00 kilometers and if i blow up I should still get 1:50 anyways". So that was the plan, try to run 4 * 25:00 5ks.

My long training runs were done at around 6:10 per km and i was a little concerened that i would have to run a LOT faster than that over a big (for me) distance and i was quite concerned about fading over the last 10 and especially 5 k. I knew i could run 25:00 5ks no prob for the 1st half of the race - but could i hang on??

After the first mini loop of 1.1k it seemed the runners had taken up there places and i was somewhere near the middle. The first 5k were great, i felt fantastic and the longer i ran the less concerned i was about my high HR. The group ahead of me put some distance on me and i could not even see anyone after about 4k. Then we got out of the fitness trail onto the hilly section on the road and i was able to pass someone on a downhill. Part of my strategy was to fly down the hills since you can dramtically increase your speed with only a small increase in effort. I feel i made up a lot of ground and saved time on the downhills. Also they never really seemed to take anything out of me on the following uphills. One of the guys in this race had smoked me by 4 mins in a 10k 5 months ago and i wanted to beat him although i did not know if it was possible or not. At the first turnaround at about the 6k mark he had 2:17 on me. On the way back to the start line turnaround i was able to keep my pace and was feeling pretty good. I continued attacking the downhills and after running the hilly section once i felt good, my leg muscles were starting to get sore but only a little. At the midpoint turnaround i had lost a little more ground on the guy i was chasing and was down 3:05. I kind of gave up on him and thought, dont worry, just run your race and go for 1:45. As i ran through the turnaround in 54:51 i thought to myself, just two more 25 minute 5ks and you have your 1:45 so i focused on that.

Starting my second loop of the course i concentrated on pace and as I hit the hilly section I saw a competitor in front of me walking parts of some of the hills. It seemed i wasn't making up much ground even though he was walking a little and i continued running and still flying downhills but after a couple hundred yards i saw that i was making up ground. I was getting closer and closer to the last turnaround at 16k and thought that i still hadn't seen the guy i wanted to beat. Finally we met and i realized i was about 2:00 back. Still quite a bit but at least i had made up some ground. I passed the guy who was walking a bit just after the turnaround and he told me i might be able to catch two people ahead of him. One of them was "the guy". I picked it up a little as I always do when i pass someone - i dont want them thinking they can stay with me and repass so i ususally pick it up a little and try to leave them behind. There was a big downhill soon after so i attacked it again. I could see two people way ahead of me near the top of the next hill. As i got there they were out of my vision and i thought, forget it, you can't get them.

Its funny the things you think when you are out running. At this point i actually wondered if the guy i passed a couple minutes ago encouraged me to catch the two guys hoping i would try to do that and end up blowing up. Ha ha.

Finally hitting the home stretch, got another drink of water at the 18k mark. My quads were totally burning by now. I think the strategy of sprinting the downhills had caused this. My form isn't the greatest and as i decended each hill earlier in the race i could feel my quads with each step as they slowed me down. I would try to increase my cadence down the hills but i could definetly feel the braking forces as i ran the downhills. Something to work on.

There is a pedestrian bridge with about 2k to go in the race and as i approaced it i could see "the guy" just crossing it and now finally i thought, "yes - i can catch him". I picked it up, sucked up the pain and with about 1.5k to go ran up to him and told him, "lets bring it home". He said he couldnt so i took off and tried to put as much ground between us as i could. The last little bit was very painful and i could tell my running form was totally messed up because i was compensating for my burning quads but i could tell i was still maintaining my 5:00/km pace. I felt really good mentally - with about 1km or so to go i knew i was going to break 1:45. As i spotted the finish, the clock was 1:43 something. I kept up my pace and finished 1:44:18. The thrill of passing & beating "the guy" was considerably lessened when he was helped to the finish and almost passed out after crossing the line and had to recieve medical treatment. Happy to see him walking around a little later though.

Very happy with my performance, wasn't sure i would be able to do it but i had a plan, stuck to it, pushed through the pain and was even able to negative split with my last 5k at around 24:13.
Overall, the 10k between 1.1 and 11.1 took 49:45 and the last 10k was 49:28

The pain in my legs was way worse than the earlier 10k i had run or any of the sprint tris i did in the summer. This race taught me that maybe i should be pushing significantly harder on the runs of my tri's.

Nada

My quads were really sore, i was walking gingerly. Took off shoes, sat down, layed down. Didn't do much.


Lack of training at distance and i could have been lighter. Put on 10+ lbs over the past month after my last tri of the season.


Good race, the race was organized well with lots of drink stations, plenty of volunteers, timing mats at the start and turnarounds. Post race sucked. Food was ok, lots of water but organizers never announced what was happening after the race - were there going to be draw prizes, was there going to be a ceremony, etc... I hung around over an hour basically drinking water and finally just left.