I heard about this race since Highschool, but with track meet conflicts during the season and in college, I never got around to it until I was back in Charlotte after graduation, in 2007. That year, I was not in great shape and managed 44 minutes. In 2008 I was so far back from the starting line, and not being in shape, I ran north of 50 minutes. 2009 I was out of town, and last year I was injured. Needless to say, I was expecting a big PR.
Perhaps my goal was a little optomistic, but having just ran under 18 mins for a 5k, I was hoping I would be able to run something near 37 mins or faster.
I was successfull in getting in the top Corral - the seeded zone, by way of registering as a sub 40 min 10k runner...despite not turning in any verification. David assured me I would get in, and sure enough he was right. Once the gun went off, I was basically out there free to run at my own desires...something very nice from the previous CR runs I've done. David and I quickly settled on going out at 6 minute pace, and when I noticed that I was well slower the first mile - (6.18 even though David says we were at 6.05), I decided to go. I passed David, and tried to bring the pace down and stay comfortable before climbing the bridge. I guess the bridge starts about a mile and a half into the race, and once we hit it - the wind was really whipping around. The third mile marker split my watch with a 5.25, and that was all climb...so I know that is not right.
Going up the bridge, I didn't really loose ground to people, so I think I stayed on pace. I never really was able to tuck in behind a throng of people. After seeing the 5.25 3rd mile at the time I was very pumped, and I think I had a nice surge down the bridge - despite the strong head wind. I was brough back to reality and also the notion that the markers were indeed off, as my 4th mile (almost all downhill) split 6.45. However my total running time at that point was right at 25 mins. I quickly realized that I was way off pace to run 37 mins. But I knew I could get under 40 easily and wanted to make sure I finished strong. I didn't feel like I was out of gas.
As we got off the bridge, I felt my legs tighten up, and my turnover begin to slow. I was battling fatigue and the effort from the bridge. I was also mentally getting drained as people started to pass, and I knew my pace wasn't where I wanted it to be. As we started to pass more people and music though, I was able to find surges. I also was able to change gears when I felt my form was slacking. It was a constant intentional battle to fight poor form, and to think to lean forward, stay on my toes, and quickin my pace...but when I did it, it helped. My 5th mile split was approx 6.15, and I felt like that was pretty right on. The last mile seemed to go by pretty quickly, and also the crowds thickened and I was able to dig deep telling my self it was only a matter of minutes until I would be finished.
I hit 37.09 for the 6th mile mark, and my watch said 5.53. At that point I realized I wasn't going to break 37, but I was pumped that I just had my fastest mile. I threw all I had into my final .2 and passed probably a dozen people or so with a very nice kick. I ran 1.09 for the final .2, hitting the finish in 38.18.
Not exactly what I thought I should do, but I raced well and finished well. Looking back on my training - 10 weeks with nothing higher than 27 miles, and just a few workouts, I can't be too disappointed. Also, I raced the last 2 weekends before this with the Shamrock and the 5k on the track, so I'll take it.
After the race, I am very pumped to take this as a building block to grow and up the training and get faster. I'm already looking forward to getting over 30 miles next week, and starting some speed work after a week "rest" of recovery runs and a couple long runs.
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