Montgomery County Road Runners Club (MCRRC) had their 10th annual running of the Pike's Peek 10K today. It's a nice and easy course, starting at the Shady Grove Metro Station and gradually descending down Rockville Pike all the way to the finishing line at White Flint Mall. It's a huge annual event. This year we had 2,000 runners, my daughter Ashley and me among them. It was good running weather—starting off cold (around 42°F) and sunny, but gradually turning cloudy. With 2,000 runners, they had to use ChampionChip chips for race timing and a wave start in four waves depending on pace. I had to work really hard to convince Ashley that we could manage the second wave, which was for a 6:30 to 8:00 minute a mile pace. Ashley can do a lot, but she just doesn't know it. I had to set the pace at what I imagined was between 7:30 and 8:00-minute mile. With my regular treadmill running, I think I got the rhythm of my steps down pat. We could both keep roughly less than 8-minute pace up to about 5 miles. Then we slowed a bit. In the end, Ashley finished 49:34 net time, which is about 7:59 pace and I was at 8:00 minute pace with a 49:42 finish for the 10K. This was a huge confidence boost for Ashley, which is what I liked best about today's race.
What amazes me is that a year ago I would not have imagined that I could run 10K in under 55 minutes. Somehow I got it stuck in my mind that I could do bno etter than 9 minute a mile for the 6.2 mile course. First I had to prove myself wrong by running 10Ks under 55 minutes on the treadmill and once I knew I was capable, it was just a matter of keeping the pace to finish the 10K at an 8-minute pace. Goes to show, the body can do a lot more than I ever imagined!
Note: I use this Performance Predictor at run-down.com to figure out my expected times for various distances based on results for a specific race.
Congrats on a great 10K Naba! Breaking through an old pace barrier is a great accomplishment.
I ended up skipping the 15K I had planned for Sat morning because of low temps (33F), rain, and high winds (20-30 mph). No point in running in conditions like that as a "tune-up." Unfortunately, that means I'm heading into the mini-marathon 1/2 marathon here in 2 weeks without having had a decent race since Feb.
Posted by: Jim Minatel | April 25, 2005 at 12:15 PM
Jim, Thanks for the encouragement! I really felt good about managing to keep the 8-minute pace. Good luck with the half marathon - - at least you still have 2 weeks to train :-)
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