Last week I wrote the following couple of statements in view of this morning's Reedy River 10k in Greenville, SC: "Last year I hit the 5 mile mark just 7 seconds behind my best 5 mile time from November of 2009 of 29:41. Last November, I ran 29:07 in that same 5 mile race, but it is unlikely I head through 5 miles in this year's 10k within several seconds of that... Realistically, anything under 38 minutes would be good news heading into the triathlon season... On the other hand, my last two races were both huge PR's, why not extend the streak to three?"
I honestly could not have predicted what came this morning. My 29:07 PR for 5 miles was, until today, the 2nd best road race I had ever run, and I had felt great finishing that race with three straight 5:51 miles. The only race I would say was better was the Miami Marathon in January; until now. Through 5 miles I obliterated my PR by 13 seconds, more on the splits later, en route to a 10k personal best by a full minute and 21 seconds!
The morning started early, and the weather appeared ominous as I left Clemson with other members of the running club at 6:45am. We arrived in Greenville and got to packet pick-up just before the line got unnecessarily long. Time seemed to move fairly quickly and before I knew it the start time was just 30 minutes away. A short mile or so jog with some strides seemed sufficient to warm up in the intermittent drizzle hanging over Greenville. The start seemed to be fairly easy but peaking at my Garmin after half of a mile gave me some frightful news, the time showed 2:45, 5:30 pace per mile... my PR for 10k was 37:23 (at 6:00/mile). Heck, my 5k PR isn't even as fast as 5:30 pace! By the mile I had slowed slightly to 5:36, now it was time to relax and settle into my race. I passed through 2 miles in 11:30 (after a 5:54) and after a short incline I was heading down the hill to the Swamp Rabbit Trail. Despite the downhill my third mile clocked in at 5:50, 17:20 for 3 miles and I passed through 5k in 17:53. My first thought at 5k was that I'd break 37 minutes, even if I slowed to a little more than 19 minutes for the second half of the race. But why not shoot for 36 minutes? My dad's PR from his prime is 36:02 - I had my new goal; and it meant continuing to run fast. For the next couple of miles I hung onto a runner who had caught me on the downhill, we ran the 4th mile in 5:44 (23:03 total) and after losing contact from him slightly I came through 5 miles in 28:54 after another 5:50 split. Just before 5 miles I passed a few recognizable faces, Fleet Feet athletes who had been among the few to beat me in the Greer Earth Day Half-Marathon last April, that provided me with even more incentive to run fast over the remaining 1.2 miles. Last year the final mile had left an impression on me, having slowed to 6:29 and foiling my plans for a sub-37 race. This year I dug deep, my legs were still feeling fairly good, strengthened by 3 months of marathon training, and I kept thinking to keep my turnover high. Supposedly my heart rate hit its maximum of 197 beats per minute just after having passed through the 6 mile mark in 34:57 (a 6:02 split for the uphill mile) but 65 seconds later I crossed the finish line with another huge PR of 36:02. Exactly tying my dad's 10k best as well. My second 5k had been a strong 18:09 to finish with a positive split of just 16 seconds - very similar to my positive split ratio in Miami (+1.49% today & +1.71% in Miami).
Back to my comment from last week then, "why not extend the streak to three?" - Mission accomplished, with another race that I can call my best race on the road ever. Today's age graded percentage comes out to 76.11% - Miami is now second with the 74.86%. Here's hoping I can run that well coming off the bike in my next several races!
No comments:
Post a Comment