Ran a 10k race in Hardt (GE) with my German friend and co-worker Jurgen. The main goal of the race was to run hard and determine where I'm at with my current fitness. I was actually unsure whether I should even run the race because for some reason my right hamstring was very tight and feeling problematic on Friday morning. It seemed as if there was a knot in the middle of the right hamstring. At lunch time I went for an easy 5 miles and the hamstring felt okay, but certainly not 100%. Thanks to my massage therapist, who managed to squeeze me in her schedule for a 30 min massage, the hamstring felt much better and I gave the race a go.
This 10k race in Germany has a history of drawing some fast runners within the area. Looking at past results the top 10 runners consistently run sub-35. So, I definitely knew there would be a good group of runners for me to run with. The gun went off and my speedy friend Jurgen immediately took off like he was shot out from a cannon. Noone dared to follow him. Jurgen ran alone the entire race finishing 1st in 31:50.
I hit 1K in 3:15 (5:14 pace) with a pack of 9 runners. It must have been a bit too fast for all of us because we decided to pull back on the pace hitting 2k in 6:42. At 5k, which I came across in 16:56, the pack was down to 6 runners. The pace seemed to be slowing around 6k. Feeling pretty good at this point I decided to move to the front and push the pace a bit. I led the pack through the next 2.5k's. I'm not sure if this was a smart move on my part because at 9k the guys picked up the pace and I was unable to respond. I finished in 7th place overall with a time of 34:15. Despite the course being well marked, I did not take down my splits, except for the first couple kilometers and the 5k mark. Overall, I am quite satisfied with my performance and finishing time considering the ups and downs of training and being injured. Afterall, it is a 10k PR for me.
3 comments:
Congratulations on a great race! Taking the lead in the pack may have cost you a place or two, but most likely improved your time. If time is more important than place, it was a smart move, otherwise maybe not. Having said that, taking a risk is important if you want to place, sometimes it just doesn't pay off.
congrats on the PR! that's a good time. Is the 10K a distance you are comfortable with?
Thanks guys.
Mark - i'm fine with the 10k distance, but feel more comfortable as the distance gets longer. the time was okay. i actually ran faster the last 10k (34:02) of a 15k race back in Dec. In fact, i avg'd the same pace (5:31) for the 15k as Saturday's 10k. i feel that i'm getting back into shape, so the race was a good sign of my current fitness.
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