10k on the 10th

Ah, the third edition of Nancy's virtual runs has come and, for me at least, already gone. I cheated a little because I ran into the same problem as I did with the 9 on the 9th (where I was running a 10k on the 9th and a marathon on the 10th, so I ran 9 on the 8th instead). This time, however, I felt I wanted a lot more rest so I pushed the 10 on the 10th to the 5th!

10k on the 10th - 51:27 (8:16 pace)

I knew coming into this one that I was in no condition to be running a 10k. And by that I mean in no condition to be trying for speed, which, for me at least, is what the 10k is good for. In fact it is one of my favorite distances and have done quite well as recently as February 9th of this year where I set a new PR of 46:30. But my training mentality had shifted drastically and thus my conditioning has changed.

You see, in the past 6 months I've ran 7 marathons or longer (3 marathons, 3 50ks, and 1 27.4 Fatass run) and one particularly tough 30k with 4,160 feet elevation gain! So I've focused on runs for the long haul and am actively trying to slow my pace down in order to last longer. Additionally, I've just come off of a 50k road race in SF a few weeks ago and was just able to begin running consistently again for my race this weekend on the 10th, and the real reason my training has changed. I will be attempting my first 50 mile race (technically Ruth Anderson was an attempt, but since that race is a run and choose the distance when you get to the finish I don't really count that one - whereas Quicksilver is a run and if you don't finish you get a DNF), one that I approach timidly and poke with a long stick to see if it is alive or not.

Preamble over, as well as excuses, I guess, then on to the race. Knowing all of the above I decided to take it easy on the 10k and just pace myself. It started out faster than I wanted and came in at 8:03 for the first mile and 7:56 for the second mile. Way too fast for what I wanted (although, laughably, way too slow compared to my 1 other 10k I've ran this year at a 7:30 pace). Through experimentation and experience I knew that I couldn't just slow myself down and expect to feel comfortable running. To me that doesn't trick the body into the right pace because the body is still trying to run! So I always force myself to either stop or to start walking for 15-20 seconds, which allows my body to catch up and only then can I get back onto the pace that I wanted.

Which was what I did for mile 3, and it was a good thing because even with the walk break I still ran an 8:09! Anyway, I finally got my pace to where I wanted it and came in at 8:38, 8:33 and 8:34 with 1:34 for the final .2 miles.

All in all I did what I wanted. I knew I couldn't push myself and try and set a PR, so instead I tried to run at a comfortable pace.

That was on Monday. Tuesday I pushed it a little farther than I wanted and ran 11.82 miles in the hills as my last run before a nice solid rest of three whole days! Yikes, don't know what to do with myself! Anyway, bad luck it fell on the Quicksilver 50miler, but it also gave me an excuse to run the 10k on the 10th.