Veterans Day 10K Race Report/45 Miles-Week Nov 9-15

Well first of all, this week felt much better than last week, for sure. I started to do a little more of quality workouts and decent mileage-definitely not high though. My legs felt more recovered than last week after the marathon. Even so, when I awoke this morning I felt a little stiff/tight. As I loosened up though, I felt better. I wasn't sure what to expect from the Veterans Day 10K race today, as last weekend I ran a 17:04 5K as a workout on a hilly course. But deep down I began to feel like I was somehow ready to break 34:00...

The gun went off, and an electric current went through my body with a JOLT. Jesus, RELAX Chris, this is your first 10K in months. A small pack of Africans surged to the lead. There were about 4 or 5 guys drafting off of them, while a big pack came together after about 1/2 a mile, which was where I was in. I had about 10 guys to run with from the start so it helped. Mile 1 Split: 5:00. OH SHIT. Too fast, I thought, but I didn't panic because I felt fine and kept running the way I was running. If I feel fine running 5:00 pace, then so be it! Mile 2: 10:33. Ok, that's more like it, I thought, realizing Mile 1 was a bit short. After Mile 2 the pack started to thin out and I found myself trying to keep contact with 2 guys ahead of me. I keyed off of them, and cannot remember if I passed one of them or not later in the race. We passed an African runner who was having an off day. Then around mile 3 Samia Akbar came up on my shoulder(who I knew was a 33:xx 10K runner) and told myself to stay right with her. She went ahead next to the 2 guys in front of me and I kept my eyes on them. Mile 3: 16:00, 5K Split: 16:36. After the turnaround, I felt a little wind but for Hains Point it was hardly windy today. Mile 4: 21:35, probably the worst I felt, but after Mile 4 I began feeling better, and started calculating in my head what I needed to run to dip under 34:00. At this point, I was running alone and could see Samia and the other 2 guys not too far ahead. Luckily, my teamate Patrick Hughes pulled up next to me and we worked through the 5th and 6th mile. Bart Borghuis was also on our heels. Mile 5: 27:10. Perfect. Now I just had to run solid the last mile, keep working it, I told myself, make sure you PUSH. This was truly racing again, for me. I haven't had an honest RACE in a while, so it felt fresh to push. I felt stronger now. After the 5th mile, Bart surged passed Patrick and I. I began surging ahead of Patrick. At the tunnel I heard and saw Max cheering for me and Patrick. Mile 6: 32:44. I had no clue how long the last .2 was going to take, but as soon as I saw the finish line and glanced at my watch I knew I was going to run a PR. I ended up running 33:53, a 23 second PR, finishing 16th.

At the moment I crossed the finish line, I was HUNGRY for more..


And as always, thanks again for cheering Beth!

Splits:

Mile 1: ~5:13
Mile 2: ~5:20
Mile 3: 5:27
Mile 4: 5:35
Mile 5: 5:35
Mile 6: 5:34
.2: 1:09