10th place. 56:30. 5:40 pace exactly! Wow. Look at me making predictions and getting them right.
Race:
I was feeling very good after the down week. My body felt good. My legs felt good. My head was in the right space to run hard. I was about as excited for a race as I can be.
The weather was a just a hair colder than I would have liked but I don't think it affected anything too much. I decided to wear my field camp t shirt because 1) I love camp and 2) low 40s is just a little too cold for me to want to wear a singlet. I felt like a goober in a t-shirt but I'm 30 years old and I know my body and I know I get cold easy and it's a comfy t-shirt DANG IT! Anyway, before the warm up it got really windy and started raining a little bit and I silently prepared to sit in my roommate's car for the entirety of the race should it continue. Fortunately it passed and I silently recommitted myself to actually doing the race I've been waiting 3 years to do. Legs felt great and poppy. I was ready.
The plan was to go out and feel relaxed and find a pack and just sit until things started getting tough. Unfortunately there were two packs that I could have run with, one pack was around 55 minute pace and the other was around 58 minute pace and there I was running my 56:30 race so I ended up by myself at mile 3. I tried to go with a guy who was moving up but I started to sense that I was pressing too much and not able to sustain that pace so I backed off and started hoping someone would come back. I passed halfway in about 27:35 which, if you had asked me before, I would've said was too fast to go out. I ended up paying the price in the second half but at least I created enough of a cushion that I was still able to meet my time goal. The last 5 miles were really tough. It was a lot of self-talk and staring straight up at the people in front of me. It reminded me a lot of my first 10 miler experience and, like then, in the final miles I was promising myself that I would train hard and come back next year much fitter and faster. Anyway, it was a slog to the finish but I got the job done. It hurt a lot. In a good way.
It's not fun to not be fit and lose to people that you've been faster than before but the thing I'm happy with is that the race made sense. Like, I put in X amount of training and I got the result I expected. Even despite it being a tough race in not completely ideal conditions. I think for a while now I've felt like my race efforts weren't necessarily in line with the training I'd done so I'm really happy that I can understand what my body can do. Since joining Strava I've had a great 6 weeks of training. But, before that I was doing some of the lowest weekly mileage I've ever done. That definitely showed today. Luckily, I've already got a plan to run more mileage next winter and work in lots of mile repeats. I'll be in a very different place this time next year.
Looking ahead, next week I'll increase the mileage again and probably do some light workouts on Tuesday and Thursday. I'm thinking some X's and strides and then some hills. Then I have the Spring Break trip. I think my mileage will definitely suffer but I can still work in some fun speed training and intervals. I'll get creative with it.
Then on the either the 5th or 7th of April and then the 19th or 21st I'll do some 800m time trials. I really enjoyed doing those in 2020 and I think they were beneficial. Between those I'll do some 600m repeats and some faster work with longer rest. That will set me up for May where I'll target some mile time trials, probably 2 or three. More broadly, April and May will be middle distance focused workouts with the same mid-60s mileage and a down week every 4th week.
That will transition into the summer where I'll really be focusing on speed and speed endurance. As well as lifting and strength training. How many sub 60 400s can I run between June and August?
Fall- Sept-Nov. up the mileage back to 60+ and ask: how many sub 6 minute miles can I run in a week? I think a good number to aim for and try to sustain is 30. Build that comfortably hard aerobic base. Tentative goal: how fast can I run 2 keene loops (14 miles)?
Winter: Dec-Feb: even higher mileage but slow things down and just focus on a weekly workout of mile/2 mile/ 1k repeats along with a long run of 17+ miles. looking to do between 70 and 80 in 6 days.
That should set me up nicely for the 10 miler next year and also I think every phase supports each other while keeping things interesting and also working within the constraints of each season. Fall and Spring are moderate enough to work out pretty hard in. Summer is hot and I'm busy with camp so I would rather do short intense sessions. Winter is cold so it's easy to just get out and log lots of miles.
I think in the past I've tried too much to do everything all the time. This year I want to focus on one specific aspect of fitness and refine it as best as possible in a 3 month window. Also sticking to my own schedule and doing things when it makes the most sense for me to do them. I think in the past I've given myself over too much to other people's schedules and workouts.
That's it. The race was good. I'm happy with my effort and I'm happy that I come away from it excited to run more.
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