Before the race
I found this local 10K race recently and thought it was a good idea to sign up for it to see where my fitness is currently at. I've had together seven 50+ mile weeks so far, and I'm 10 weeks out from my goal marathon. Good timing for a hard effort that doesn't totally derail marathon training.
I moved this week's 17-mile long run up to Wednesday to give myself a few more days to recover. The fatigue was definitely felt on Thursday and Friday. Even Saturday's easy run felt a little sluggish.
My goal for this race was sub-37:00. I've done some workouts recently where 5:55/mi felt comfortably hard for 2-mile, so holding that pace for 6.2 miles in a race environment felt attainable.
Race recap
Mile 1 - 5:54. Mile 2 - 5:56. I felt good. The pace for first couple miles was spot-on. We gained 30 feet per mile. I might have burned too many matches by not adjusting my pace for the elevation gain.
Mile 3 - 5:50. This mile was straight, slightly downhill, and too fast. I got carried away trying to stay with some runners in my pack. Mile 4 - 5:52. Though I still felt good, I was starting to get dropped by competitors who had paced the first three miles conservatively.
Mile 5 - 5:56. If this was a 5-mile race instead of a 10K, then I did a good job. I wanted the race to be over at mile 4.6 and couldn't believe how much further we still had to go.
Mile 6 - 6:23. This is where my race tanked. This diabolical hill at mile 5.4 took me out. Strava says this hill was 13% grade at the steepest point, and my pace was 8:08/mi at the slowest point. I lost my turnover and couldn't maintain my breathing. Quite a few people passed me during this section. In hindsight, I would've dipped under 37:00 if I ran even 5:57 on mile 6. Easier said than done.
I ran the last quarter mile at 5:54/mi pace. Thankfully, no one else passed.
Official time - 37:25. Finished the week with 60 miles total.
Not exactly what I was hoping for, but a PR is a PR so I'll take it. I still have a lot to learn when it comes to pacing.