Ran a 10k - Official Thread (2 Viewers)

[SFBayDuck]

10K Race Report

I've only run one 10K, a turkey trot back in 2015.  I ran a 52:04, but I was at least in decent shape at the time having run 4 ultras that year, including a 50M in October.  So I really had no idea what to put down as my estimated time for this.  Because I've been on the roads I've been running a lot more miles in the 10s than I usually do on the trails, but I still rarely have a mile quicker than 9:30 or so, and that's not easy.  So I, somewhat jokingly, just estimated 1 second less than @BassNBrew for each of the distances.  

But I haven't really been "training", just trying to run a few times a week for stress relief and to not lose all fitness.  My diet has been crap (I'm a bit of a stress eater with a default for comfort foods), so I'm  25+ pounds over where I was for States a few years back.  I did actually look up some 5K workouts last month, and had my watch programmed for some intervals when I hurt myself getting dressed for that run.    That led to taking 13 days completely off last month, and only running 5 of the last 11 days of the month as I eased back into it.  And I obviously missed the 5K.  But the last couple of weeks I've been a little more consistent, although I never did an actual workout - just a few strides here and there.  

This morning I was feeling ok, I hadn't run yesterday, so after a shorter walk with the pup I decided to give the 10K a go.  It had started to rain at the end of our walk, so it was probably as cool as it was going to get over the next 5 days.  I figured I'd just start out at a pace I thought I might be able to hold, and see how it went - if I screwed up I'd just pull the plug and try again Saturday.  I obviously don't have any examples of pace, and as I started I realized my Fenix HR monitor wasn't working - it was showing in the 120s when I knew I was at least in the high 150s.  So I just went by my breathing - from the few tempo runs I've run over the years I know there's a hard breathing pattern I can maintain for awhile, and if I go above that I start to almost gasp a bit with each breath.  So the plan was just to try and stay as close to that line as possible.

First mile - 9:05.  Felt ok, nothing hurt, effort level seemed manageable.  Let's pick it up a bit.

Second mile - 8:45.  Still alright, but now it's hard.  Had my first thought of pulling the plug.  Nah, let's at least get to 5K and see where we're at

Third mile - 8:29.  Ok, this kind of sucks now.  Where's that hill I can power hike?  Is there an aid station coming?  Can a bear get in my way so I can stop? 

Fourth mile - 8:19.  A slight downhill here so the pace picks up, but about the 3 1/2 mile mark I started having serious doubts about holding the pace.  But I also started thinking that it's going to suck just as much if I try this on Saturday, and I don't want to do this again.  So #EmbraceTheSuck

Fifth mile - 8:26.  Slipping into that gasping breathing pattern a couple of times, so had to ease back just a bit.  Listening to a podcast and realize I haven't heard anything that's been said for about 15 minutes.

Sixth mile - 8:20.  "It never always gets worse" is one of my favorite mantras in ultras.  This mantra does not apply to 10Ks.  

Final .22 - 1:44 for a 7:47 pace.  I really had no idea when to break into the "finishing kick", if you can call a 7:47 pace that.  But as I hit 6.22 and hit stop on the watch I doubled over gasping, so I think I did it right.  Then again I didn't puke, so maybe not.

53:12 for an 8:33 overall pace.

It's pretty embarrassing how hard that was for me, when for almost everyone else in here you're running your easy runs faster than that.  But I feel good about the effort I put out there today.  

Thanks all for including me, and letting my slow, ultra ### muck up this thread of you real runners every once in awhile.  

 

[BassNBrew]

10K Race Report

I've only run one 10K, a turkey trot back in 2015.  I ran a 52:04, but I was at least in decent shape at the time having run 4 ultras that year, including a 50M in October.  So I really had no idea what to put down as my estimated time for this.  Because I've been on the roads I've been running a lot more miles in the 10s that I usually do on the trails, but I still rarely have a mile quicker than 9:30 or so, and that's not easy.  So I, somewhat jokingly, just estimated 1 second less than @BassNBrew for each of the distances.  

But I haven't really been "training", just trying to run a few times a week for stress release and to not lose all fitness.  My diet has been crap (I'm a bit of a stress eater with a default for comfort foods), so I'm  25+ pounds over where I was for States a few years back.  I did actually look up some 5K workouts last month, and had my watch programmed for some intervals when I hurt myself getting dressed for that run.    That led to taking 13 days completely off last month, and only running 5 of the last 11 days of the month as I eased back into it.  And I obviously missed the 5K.  But the last couple of weeks I've been a little more consistent, although I never did an actual workout - just a few strides here and there.  

This morning I was feeling ok, I hadn't run yesterday, so after a shorter walk with the pup I decided to give the 10K a go.  It had started to rain at the end of our walk, so it was probably as cool as it was going to get over the next 5 days.  I figured I'd just start out at a pace I thought I might be able to hold, and see how it went - if I screwed up I'd just pull the plug and try again Saturday.  I obviously don't have any examples of pace, and as I started I realized my Fenix HR monitor wasn't working - it was showing in the 120s when I knew I was last least in the high 150s.  So I just went by my breathing - from the few tempo runs I've run over the years I know there's a hard breathing pattern I can maintain for awhile, and if I go above that I start to almost gasp a bit with each breath.  So the plan was just to try and stay as close to that line as possible.

First mile - 9:05.  Felt ok, nothing hurt, effort level seemed manageable.  Let's pick it up a bit.

Second mile - 8:45.  Still alright, but now it's hard.  Had my first thought of pulling the plug.  Nah, let's at least get to 5K and see where we're at

Third mile - 8:29.  Ok, this kind of sucks now.  Where's that hill I can power hike?  Is there an aid station coming?  Can a bear get in my way so I can stop? 

Fourth mile - 8:19.  A slight downhill here so the pace picks up, but about the 3 1/2 mile mark I started having serious doubts about holding the pace.  But I also started thinking that it's going to suck just as much if I try this on Saturday, and I don't want to do this again.  So #EmbraceTheSuck

Fifth mile - 8:26.  Slipping into that gasping breathing pattern a couple of times, so had to ease back just a bit.  Listening to a podcast and realize I haven't heard anything that's been said for about 15 minutes.

Sixth mile - 8:20.  "It never always gets worse" is one of my favorite mantras in ultras.  This mantra does not apply to 10Ks.  

Final .22 - 1:44 for a 7:47 pace.  I really had no idea when to break into the "finishing kick", if you can call a 7:47 pace that.  But as I hit 6.22 and hit stop on the watch I doubled over gasping, so I think I did it right.  Then again I didn't puke, so maybe not.

53:12 for an 8:33 overall pace.

It's pretty embarrassing how hard that was for me, when for almost everyone else in here you're running your easy runs faster than that.  But I feel good about the effort I put out there today.  

Thanks all for including me, and letting my slow, ultra ### muck up this thread of you real runners every once in awhile.  

Nice job Duck.

I'm probably just going to copy this race report and add 3 minutes to any time mentioned.

 

[SteelCurtain]

Here's an updated list (holding off on pbm's still-super-fast actual for the moment):

Team member ....5K actual ....10K projected

Cap'n Juxt.......17:22.....
MAC................16:59.....36:59
Dr. Z................19:45.....42:50
SteelCurtain...20:00......44:59
tri-man............21:04.....45:00
xulf..................20:09.....45:25
Zasada............20:22....45:10
JAA..................20:54....46:07
Iquana.............21:40....46:13
El Floppo.........23:00....51:45
AlexPKeaton...23:58....55:30
SFBayDuck........DNS....64:59

Cap'n Grue......18:10.....
pbm.................18:04.....37:30
Harris...............20:08....41:00
Brony................20:20....WNS
Oz.....................20:07....45:30
bushdocta........20:19....47:00
gianmarco........22:14....46:30
mrs. gian..........22:25....47:00
Say What?........20:54....47:30
JShare................DNS....46:30
ChiefD...............22:34....51:00
BassnBrew.........DNS....65:00

From some quick calcs, TeamGrue has an edge based on the projections.  

I believe this is an old version.  I say that because I believe Dr. Z adjusted to 42:00 minutes and I was cranky so I said 41:59. (this was after the 5K). 

That being said, I'll be shocked if I can run 41:59.  I think 43 is probably more likely but we will see soon.

 

[Harris]

Question since this is a longer race and I'm in a super dense city. I'm aiming to do this super early on Sunday but if I get stopped due to cars/other, what is the ruling on the pausing of the watch?

 

[ChiefD]

Question since this is a longer race and I'm in a super dense city. I'm aiming to do this super early on Sunday but if I get stopped due to cars/other, what is the ruling on the pausing of the watch?

Pausing is OK. I may have to do this as well since my route requires crossing a major intersection. 

 

[Juxtatarot]

@tri-man 47  I might run that route Saturday morning after all.  The wind is right and I really can't find a better route without crossing some major intersections and having annoying hills.  I think I might start further down from where you mentioned and take advantage of a few miles on the flat trail along the river going SW.

I'd avoid the 55 bridge by starting on the path on 101.  

https://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/3099851236

 

[Zasada]

Pausing is OK. I may have to do this as well since my route requires crossing a major intersection. 

I'll be running 10 1Ks with 10 minutes between each...

 

[gianmarco]

We are also having to cross a few intersections. 

I think it would be fair to allow pausing for just this 10K given the distance instead of us trying to be reckless running across a street to save precious seconds.

I know this is like a real race, but in real races they actually block traffic, so....

 

[Dr_Zaius]

A ruling would definitely be good as my route has I believe 8 road crossings.  None of them are close to major, so Vegas O/U on number of stops would be 0.5, but if I get unlucky it would be nice to know my options.

 

[Juxtatarot]

There's no pausing in racing.

 

[Juxtatarot]

There's no pausing in racing.

But, whatever, I'm not opposed.

 

[Dr_Zaius]

There's no pausing in racing.

I thought that was the original ruling, but maybe I'm remembering wrong.

 

[Juxtatarot]

@tri-man 47 will have to make a ruling on pausing.

 

[gianmarco]

@tri-man 47 will have to make a ruling on pausing.

@JShare87 is probably thrilled with that.

 

[Juxtatarot]

@JShare87 is probably thrilled with that.

@tri-man 47 might be in favor of a pause rule so he can take a pee break.

 

[gruecd]

@tri-man 47 will have to make a ruling on pausing.

I'd be a strong vote against. Opens up an entire 'nother can of worms.

 

[El Floppo]

Question since this is a longer race and I'm in a super dense city. I'm aiming to do this super early on Sunday but if I get stopped due to cars/other, what is the ruling on the pausing of the watch?

Bois de Boulogne, imo. You either get lucky or you'll get really lucky. Unless the Bois has changed.

 

[ChiefD]

If we can't pause I would have to give serious thought about not running this race. I cannot map out a fair course where I live without the possibility of crossing major intersections.

 

[ChiefD]

Adding: If I just run my neighborhood, which I could do without crossing an intersection, I would end up with a net positive elevation by a lot.  Any other place I go I have to cross highway interchange intersections or major roads. 

The route I mapped out originally has only 1 crossing. 

 

[Brony]

Adding: If I just run my neighborhood, which I could do without crossing an intersection, I would end up with a net positive elevation by a lot.  Any other place I go I have to cross highway interchange intersections or major roads. 

The route I mapped out originally has only 1 crossing. 

Do you live in a MC Escher neighborhood?  If you just do loops in a neighborhood, wouldn't this be net neutral elevation? 

 

[Brony]

He's kind of in a Monty Python "I'm not dead yet" condition.  Actually, one of his legs is causing him great pain right now.   :(

Gonna crush this 10K in 2024 relays. 

 

[tri-man 47]

Definitely no pausing.

Yeah, no pausing. 

The route I've laid out has a big intersection traffic light, and my plan is to turn left, if needed, and cross the street 100-200 yards down.  Plan B would be six x 1 mile loops by the house to avoid traffic logistics.  I'd suggest that if someone hits traffic, then do a quick turnaround, run for 15-20 seconds, and reapproach the intersection/crossing when traffic is hopefully lighter ...or use the mentality that a 5-10 second wait or traffic dodge (as with regular race water stations)  is beneficially offset by the opportunity to catch your breath (which might happen to me on a late country road crossing) ...or use the mentality that losing 20-30 seconds due to traffic is better than having to run a more difficult hilly route.

Chief, if I'm you, I run, like, 18 laps around the local Home Depot, knowing the guys in the shovel department will gladly set up a water station and cheer me on.   

 

[bushdocda]

Beet juice 

 

[Harris]

Bois de Boulogne, imo. You either get lucky or you'll get really lucky. Unless the Bois has changed.

... nothing has changed

 

[El Floppo]

... nothing has changed

Lol.

Last time I was in Paris (2012), I went for runs on the Seine a couple early mornings. That was interesting . Kinda like running on the Hudson near the W Village in the 80s early 90s.

 

[tri-man 47]

@tri-man 47  I might run that route Saturday morning after all.  The wind is right and I really can't find a better route without crossing some major intersections and having annoying hills.  I think I might start further down from where you mentioned and take advantage of a few miles on the flat trail along the river going SW.

I'd avoid the 55 bridge by starting on the path on 101.  

https://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/3099851236

Maybe I'll see you out there!  With NE winds in the forecast, I'm leaning toward the route starting on 83rd, west of Lemont Rd.  That does lead to the Woodward Ave I-55 bridge crossing, but that's still early enough that I'm not too worried.  I'll still have that sharp rise before the long final downhill mile, and I'll take that trade-off.  I played around with some options going E/W using 101st, 105th, Internationale, but there's a dip between Woodward and Lemont, so I'll take the 55 bridge instead and get the long modest downslope that comes with it.  FWIW, the grading over that nice mile of trail section is about the same drop in the first half-mile of Boston (and also the drop around at the start of mile 16 at the x-way overpass).

 

[xulf]

53:12. 
 

ETA: Suck it, Team Grue. 

So strong --- great run!

 

[Juxtatarot]

Maybe I'll see you out there!  With NE winds in the forecast, I'm leaning toward the route starting on 83rd, west of Lemont Rd.  That does lead to the Woodward Ave I-55 bridge crossing, but that's still early enough that I'm not too worried.  I'll still have that sharp rise before the long final downhill mile, and I'll take that trade-off.  I played around with some options going E/W using 101st, 105th, Internationale, but there's a dip between Woodward and Lemont, so I'll take the 55 bridge instead and get the long modest downslope that comes with it.  FWIW, the grading over that nice mile of trail section is about the same drop in the first half-mile of Boston (and also the drop around at the start of mile 16 at the x-way overpass).

So you're running Saturday morning too?

 

[ChiefD]

Maybe I'll see you out there!  With NE winds in the forecast, I'm leaning toward the route starting on 83rd, west of Lemont Rd.  That does lead to the Woodward Ave I-55 bridge crossing, but that's still early enough that I'm not too worried.  I'll still have that sharp rise before the long final downhill mile, and I'll take that trade-off.  I played around with some options going E/W using 101st, 105th, Internationale, but there's a dip between Woodward and Lemont, so I'll take the 55 bridge instead and get the long modest downslope that comes with it.  FWIW, the grading over that nice mile of trail section is about the same drop in the first half-mile of Boston (and also the drop around at the start of mile 16 at the x-way overpass).

So you're running Saturday morning too?

You guys should run together. Hold feet or something...

 

[tri-man 47]

So you're running Saturday morning too?

I expect so ...timing is flexible.  I plan to park at the Waterfall Glen lot on Lemont and do my warm-up running north to 83rd (you too?).  I'll regret having about a 4 mile cool-down after finishing (whereas you'll be turning east onto that flat trail to finish and have a shorter run up Lemont).  We could try to time things for before or after.

 

[Juxtatarot]

Maybe I'll see you out there!  With NE winds in the forecast, I'm leaning toward the route starting on 83rd, west of Lemont Rd.  That does lead to the Woodward Ave I-55 bridge crossing, but that's still early enough that I'm not too worried.  I'll still have that sharp rise before the long final downhill mile, and I'll take that trade-off.  I played around with some options going E/W using 101st, 105th, Internationale, but there's a dip between Woodward and Lemont, so I'll take the 55 bridge instead and get the long modest downslope that comes with it.  FWIW, the grading over that nice mile of trail section is about the same drop in the first half-mile of Boston (and also the drop around at the start of mile 16 at the x-way overpass).

Those are good points.  I don't like that 87th/Boughton crossing.  I know you'll go up and down the street but I don't like sharp changes of direction.  I'll think about it.

 

[JShare87]

@JShare87 is probably thrilled with that.

Seriously, when did these two idiots become the end all be all to everything?

 

[CGRdrJoe]

10K Race Report

I've only run one 10K, a turkey trot back in 2015.  I ran a 52:04, but I was at least in decent shape at the time having run 4 ultras that year, including a 50M in October.  So I really had no idea what to put down as my estimated time for this.  Because I've been on the roads I've been running a lot more miles in the 10s than I usually do on the trails, but I still rarely have a mile quicker than 9:30 or so, and that's not easy.  So I, somewhat jokingly, just estimated 1 second less than @BassNBrew for each of the distances.  

But I haven't really been "training", just trying to run a few times a week for stress relief and to not lose all fitness.  My diet has been crap (I'm a bit of a stress eater with a default for comfort foods), so I'm  25+ pounds over where I was for States a few years back.  I did actually look up some 5K workouts last month, and had my watch programmed for some intervals when I hurt myself getting dressed for that run.    That led to taking 13 days completely off last month, and only running 5 of the last 11 days of the month as I eased back into it.  And I obviously missed the 5K.  But the last couple of weeks I've been a little more consistent, although I never did an actual workout - just a few strides here and there.  

This morning I was feeling ok, I hadn't run yesterday, so after a shorter walk with the pup I decided to give the 10K a go.  It had started to rain at the end of our walk, so it was probably as cool as it was going to get over the next 5 days.  I figured I'd just start out at a pace I thought I might be able to hold, and see how it went - if I screwed up I'd just pull the plug and try again Saturday.  I obviously don't have any examples of pace, and as I started I realized my Fenix HR monitor wasn't working - it was showing in the 120s when I knew I was at least in the high 150s.  So I just went by my breathing - from the few tempo runs I've run over the years I know there's a hard breathing pattern I can maintain for awhile, and if I go above that I start to almost gasp a bit with each breath.  So the plan was just to try and stay as close to that line as possible.

First mile - 9:05.  Felt ok, nothing hurt, effort level seemed manageable.  Let's pick it up a bit.

Second mile - 8:45.  Still alright, but now it's hard.  Had my first thought of pulling the plug.  Nah, let's at least get to 5K and see where we're at

Third mile - 8:29.  Ok, this kind of sucks now.  Where's that hill I can power hike?  Is there an aid station coming?  Can a bear get in my way so I can stop? 

Fourth mile - 8:19.  A slight downhill here so the pace picks up, but about the 3 1/2 mile mark I started having serious doubts about holding the pace.  But I also started thinking that it's going to suck just as much if I try this on Saturday, and I don't want to do this again.  So #EmbraceTheSuck

Fifth mile - 8:26.  Slipping into that gasping breathing pattern a couple of times, so had to ease back just a bit.  Listening to a podcast and realize I haven't heard anything that's been said for about 15 minutes.

Sixth mile - 8:20.  "It never always gets worse" is one of my favorite mantras in ultras.  This mantra does not apply to 10Ks.  

Final .22 - 1:44 for a 7:47 pace.  I really had no idea when to break into the "finishing kick", if you can call a 7:47 pace that.  But as I hit 6.22 and hit stop on the watch I doubled over gasping, so I think I did it right.  Then again I didn't puke, so maybe not.

53:12 for an 8:33 overall pace.

It's pretty embarrassing how hard that was for me, when for almost everyone else in here you're running your easy runs faster than that.  But I feel good about the effort I put out there today.  

Thanks all for including me, and letting my slow, ultra ### muck up this thread of you real runners every once in awhile.  

Finish it up with in and out? Behind a silver crv with duck license plate frame and contemplating crashing into the back of it after reading your times.

 

[bushdocda]

@Dr_Zaius 

 

[BassNBrew]

It's done.  Editing Ducks race report once I get a few recovery beers down.

We should be OK if Gru can put 7 minutes into Jux and @-OZ- can pick up 7 minutes on Mac. 

 

[xulf]

@Dr_Zaius 

@Dr_Zaius not messing around 

 

[SFBayDuck]

Finish it up with in and out? Behind a silver crv with duck license plate frame and contemplating crashing into the back of it after reading your times.

Ha, that wasn't me....but In and Out sounds damned good, I think a Double Double Protein style might be tomorrow's lunch.

 

[tri-man 47]

Team member ....5K actual ....10K projected .....10 actual

Cap'n Juxt.......17:22....37:11
MAC................16:59.....36:59
Dr. Z................19:45.....42:00 .....41:39
SteelCurtain...20:00.....41:59
tri-man............21:04.....45:00
xulf..................20:09.....45:25
Zasada............20:22....45:10
JAA..................20:54....46:07
Iquana.............21:40....46:13
El Floppo.........23:00....51:45
AlexPKeaton...23:58....55:30
SFBayDuck........DNS....64:59 .....53:06

Cap'n Grue......18:10.....
pbm.................18:04.....37:30 .....38:39
Harris...............20:08....41:00
Brony................20:20....WNS
Oz.....................20:07....45:30
bushdocta........20:19....47:00
gianmarco........22:14....46:30
mrs. gian..........22:25....47:00
Say What?........20:54....47:30
JShare................DNS....46:30
ChiefD...............22:34....51:00
BassnBrew........29:23....65:00 .....

 

[Dr_Zaius]

10K Race Report - warning - looong

Course Selection
This one definitely took up a lot of my headspace in the last few weeks.  I went through endless route possibilities in my head, but as I opined on here I wasn't really happy with any of them.  A week out, I was sort of leaning to doing it on the track per tri-man's suggestion.  Two things were bothering me about that, though : 1. I worried there would be too many people there, as I'm wasn't going to run anytime before 10AM, 2. It really bothers me that the GPS is so off on the track, and the thought of having some stupid fake 10K record that wasn't true but I didn't want to delete on Strava filled me with dread.  

The wife actually suggested a local rail trail on Monday morning.  Checking it out online, it had a nice stead decline, no major road crossings, and with a NNE direction could potentially give favorable winds.  So, I tried it out on Monday, and it is quite wide and scenic.  The only problem is that it is almost all gravel, so I knew that would counteract some of the downhill benefit, but it still seemed like my best option.

Pre-Race
I didn't want to wait until the weekend, and was originally targeting late Friday morning, which would have the most favorable wind, but weather forecast was warm and humid, so yesterday I switched to planning a Thursday evening attempt with a slightly favorable wind.  Finished my work around 4:30, wife had some pizza ready for me.  Had some espresso around 6:00 and did a quick warmup around the neighborhood, then got in the car with the wife.

Strategy
Pacing was another thing that was driving me a bit batty.  No 10K race experience.  My 10K record was a half marathon split, so I was pretty sure I could beat that, and was also confident I would go sub 43:00 unless something was terribly amiss.  How much would the downhill help?  Tailwind?  How much would the gravel hurt?  No race environment?  My half marathon PR calculated to 41:55 equivalent, 5K PR to 40:43 on Jack Daniels.  I decided to set my watch for a 6:30-6:45 band and see what happened.

Race
Not much traffic, so got there a little earlier than I planned, but no sense sitting around with dread.  Emptied the bladder, jogged about 30 seconds to the start, then started the watch as the wife drove away.

Mile 1 : 6:24 (3:13, 3:11)
This was the biggest downhill, but still probably a little hot.  Also my only traffic snafu - at the very first road crossing, perhaps the most blind one, there was a truck coming around the turn at almost the worst time.  I high tailed it across as he approached and easily crossed, but I felt a little guilty as it sounded like he slowed down, probably worried if there was another runner behind me.  Didn't have traffic at any of the other crossings, though.
Mile 2 : 6:32 (3:15, 3:17)
Settling in, though still not sure of the pacing - definitely felt less painful than a 5K at this point, more painful than a half, so we're good, maybe?
Mile 3 : 6:42 (3:17, 3:24)
This contained the only paved section and also the only hill as the course detours through some soccer fields and parking lots.  The distraction of having to focus to follow the course was nice.
Mile 4 : 6:39 (3:23, 3:24)
Definitely started feeling it pretty good here, and I lost the tailwind here and was feeling the difference. Counting down the distance to the finish.
Mile 5 : 6:55 (3:24, 3:30)
After my recon I was worried about this mile - road crossings were done, and the trail just goes on and on between some houses and a golf course here, and there are just no landmarks at all.  Very tough mentally.
Mile 6 : 7:02 (3:23, 3:38)
I was happy with my run except for the second half of this mile.  It actually pisses me off looking at and I don't have a good explanation - just lost focus.  I was gassed, but I definitely could have run this mile 10 seconds faster.
Last .21x : 6:31 pace
Spied my wife at the finish line, gave what little I had left.  Done!  Hooray!  Thank you Springfield, there will be no encore!  10K are teh suck.

41:39
Final Thoughts
Thankful for this series to give me something to push for.  I'm happy with the time and my effort.  I definitely noticed some slippage on the gravel, but I don't think I would have beaten this time on the track.  Pacing wasn't great, but from experience I tend to be better at hanging on than trying to negative split.  Garmin had my HR 193-195 between miles 2.5-6.2, and that matched the Fitbit so I don't think I had much left.

Go team Juxt!

 

[JShare87]

10K Race Report - warning - looong

Course Selection
This one definitely took up a lot of my headspace in the last few weeks.  I went through endless route possibilities in my head, but as I opined on here I wasn't really happy with any of them.  A week out, I was sort of leaning to doing it on the track per tri-man's suggestion.  Two things were bothering me about that, though : 1. I worried there would be too many people there, as I'm wasn't going to run anytime before 10AM, 2. It really bothers me that the GPS is so off on the track, and the thought of having some stupid fake 10K record that wasn't true but I didn't want to delete on Strava filled me with dread.  

The wife actually suggested a local rail trail on Monday morning.  Checking it out online, it had a nice stead decline, no major road crossings, and with a NNE direction could potentially give favorable winds.  So, I tried it out on Monday, and it is quite wide and scenic.  The only problem is that it is almost all gravel, so I knew that would counteract some of the downhill benefit, but it still seemed like my best option.

Pre-Race
I didn't want to wait until the weekend, and was originally targeting late Friday morning, which would have the most favorable wind, but weather forecast was warm and humid, so yesterday I switched to planning a Thursday evening attempt with a slightly favorable wind.  Finished my work around 4:30, wife had some pizza ready for me.  Had some espresso around 6:00 and did a quick warmup around the neighborhood, then got in the car with the wife.

Strategy
Pacing was another thing that was driving me a bit batty.  No 10K race experience.  My 10K record was a half marathon split, so I was pretty sure I could beat that, and was also confident I would go sub 43:00 unless something was terribly amiss.  How much would the downhill help?  Tailwind?  How much would the gravel hurt?  No race environment?  My half marathon PR calculated to 41:55 equivalent, 5K PR to 40:43 on Jack Daniels.  I decided to set my watch for a 6:30-6:45 band and see what happened.

Race
Not much traffic, so got there a little earlier than I planned, but no sense sitting around with dread.  Emptied the bladder, jogged about 30 seconds to the start, then started the watch as the wife drove away.

Mile 1 : 6:24 (3:13, 3:11)
This was the biggest downhill, but still probably a little hot.  Also my only traffic snafu - at the very first road crossing, perhaps the most blind one, there was a truck coming around the turn at almost the worst time.  I high tailed it across as he approached and easily crossed, but I felt a little guilty as it sounded like he slowed down, probably worried if there was another runner behind me.  Didn't have traffic at any of the other crossings, though.
Mile 2 : 6:32 (3:15, 3:17)
Settling in, though still not sure of the pacing - definitely felt less painful than a 5K at this point, more painful than a half, so we're good, maybe?
Mile 3 : 6:42 (3:17, 3:24)
This contained the only paved section and also the only hill as the course detours through some soccer fields and parking lots.  The distraction of having to focus to follow the course was nice.
Mile 4 : 6:39 (3:23, 3:24)
Definitely started feeling it pretty good here, and I lost the tailwind here and was feeling the difference. Counting down the distance to the finish.
Mile 5 : 6:55 (3:24, 3:30)
After my recon I was worried about this mile - road crossings were done, and the trail just goes on and on between some houses and a golf course here, and there are just no landmarks at all.  Very tough mentally.
Mile 6 : 7:02 (3:23, 3:38)
I was happy with my run except for the second half of this mile.  It actually pisses me off looking at and I don't have a good explanation - just lost focus.  I was gassed, but I definitely could have run this mile 10 seconds faster.
Last .21x : 6:31 pace
Spied my wife at the finish line, gave what little I had left.  Done!  Hooray!  Thank you Springfield, there will be no encore!  10K are teh suck.

41:39
Final Thoughts
Thankful for this series to give me something to push for.  I'm happy with the time and my effort.  I definitely noticed some slippage on the gravel, but I don't think I would have beaten this time on the track.  Pacing wasn't great, but from experience I tend to be better at hanging on than trying to negative split.  Garmin had my HR 193-195 between miles 2.5-6.2, and that matched the Fitbit so I don't think I had much left.

Go team Juxt!

Great job! Way to not slow down for the semi truck during mile 1 that almost took your life. Remember no pausing that watch! Our guardians of the 10K ( @Juxtatarot and @tri-man 47 ) will disqualify you. Oh, wait, you’re on their team. Carry on! Seriously, awesome run. I’ve been motivated to beat you because you were drafted ahead of me, but that is definitely out of the question now. Way to go.

 

[-OZ-]

It's done.  Editing Ducks race report once I get a few recovery beers down.

We should be OK if Gru can put 7 minutes into Jux and @-OZ- can pick up 7 minutes on Mac. 

It's a no from me, dawg.

 

[tri-man 47]

Great job! Way to not slow down for the semi truck during mile 1 that almost took your life. Remember no pausing that watch! Our guardians of the 10K ( @Juxtatarot and @tri-man 47 ) will disqualify you. Oh, wait, you’re on their team. Carry on! Seriously, awesome run. I’ve been motivated to beat you because you were drafted ahead of me, but that is definitely out of the question now. Way to go.

Along with your captain, the mighty Grue, we are, in fact, guardians of the galaxies, laddie.

 

[Dr_Zaius]

Great job! Way too not slow down for the semi truck during mile 1 that almost took your life. Remember no pausing that watch! Our guardians of the 10K ( @Juxtatarot and @tri-man 47 ) will disqualify you. Oh, wait, you’re on their team. Carry on! Seriously, awesome run. I’ve been motivated to beat you because you were drafted ahead of me, but that is definitely out of the question now. Way to go.

For the record, it was a white pickup, and it really wasn't close.    Like I said, I'm pretty sure he slowed down as a precaution (if he did, I'm just going by the sound of the engine that I heard as a was leaving the road, I didn't hear any brakes or anything) - like when you see one deer and you assume others are coming.  

 

[-OZ-]

I'd be a strong vote against. Opens up an entire 'nother can of worms.

If we can't pause I would have to give serious thought about not running this race. I cannot map out a fair course where I live without the possibility of crossing major intersections.

There's no pausing in racing.

I don't expect to need to pause but if it's a question of safety, reasonable pausing should be fine.

There's also road guards, like police most often, in racing.

 

[SFBayDuck]

 Nicely done, Dr Z!

 

[CGRdrJoe]

I will volunteer to ride behind duck as he runs and video tape as I throw #### at him for free, just need 2 likes.

 

[BassNBrew]

10K Race Report (2 attempt as the freaking browser crashed, fitting)

I've only run one 10K, the run leg in an international try a decade ago. Forget the time.   I ran a 1:17 two weeks ago and wanted to improve on that.  

I haven't really been "training", just trying to run a few times a week a couple of times a month for stress relief and to not lose all fitness.  My diet has been crap (I'm a bit of a stress eater with a default for comfort foods), so I'm  25+ pounds over where I was for States a few years back Mt' Mitchell two months ago.  I did actually look up some 5K workouts last month, and had my watch programmed for some intervals when I hurt myself getting dressed for that run I decide a few beers would be a better idea.   That led to taking 13 29 days completely off last month, and only running 5 0 of the last 11 days of the month as I eased back into it.  And I obviously missed ran the 5K.  But the last couple of weeks I've been a little more less consistent, although I never did an actual workout  

This morning I was feeling ok, after three bouts of diarrhea.  It's wasn't raining in the evening for a change so I decided to give it an attempt.  

(I had hoped this competition would motivate me to do more running.  This Covid thing has been the suck.  I'm down one staff member i promoted two weeks before the work at home order.  Business has been busier than ever and I'm filling two jobs plus the office phone is now routed to my cell phone a lot of the time.  Also one of my personal properties out of town went under contract so I had repair trips and moving to do.  Lastly, my son moved back home and was promptly furloughed after two weeks on his new job.  He's started his own home repair business and I've been helping him.  Most nights we've been getting in between 8-9 and I no motivation to do anything other than eat and drink a beer.  Often we'll work on invoicing or estimates after eating.  It's been a lot of fun working with him and helping him with his business and I've immensely enjoyed the time with him.  We've replaced a tile shower, painted several houses, remodeled a kitchen, laid a wood floor, and done some lighting work.  It's been pretty much 12 hours a day an average of 6 days from the last 3 months since mid February.  I think he's made 10k in the last month.  I've been so tired I've actually napped in my truck mid day two days let week

First mile - 9:05 9:38, 154 hr.  Felt ok, nothing hurt, effort level seemed unsubstainable.  Let's pick slow it up a bit.

Second mile - 8:45 11:17, 160 hr.  Still Not alright, but now it's hard.  Had my first thought of pulling the plug.  Nah, let's at least get to 5K and see where we're at

Third mile - 8:29 11:26, 163 hr.  Ok, this kind really sucks now.  Where's that hill I can power hike?  Is there a beer station coming?  Can a bear get in my way so I can stop?  Now I'm in the upper half of zone 4 based on heart analysis a decade ago.

Fourth mile - 8:19 11:26, 164 hr.  A slight downhill here so the pace picks up doesn't erode further, but about the 3 1/2 mile mark I started having serious no doubts thoughts about holding the pace.  I also started thinking its can't be any slower f I try this on the weekend.

Fifth mile - 8:26 12:27, 169 hr.  Slight uphill for this mile.  My tested threshold 15 years ago was 167.  Two plus miles to go and I'm redlined.  

Sixth mile - 8:20 11:34, 173 hr.  "It always gets worse" is one of my favorite mantras in ultras.  This mantra also applies to 10Ks.  My goal now is to try to only lose 5 minutes to my goal time and not put team Gru 20 minutes down on day one.  HR is approaching max.  It's slow, but giving it my best.

 Final .22 .24 - 1:44 2:23 for a 7:47 9:52 pace, 178 HR.  I really had no idea when to break into the "finishing kick", if you can call a 7:47 9:52 pace that.  I'm at max heart rate.  As I hit 6.15, I begin dry heaving, but there's nothing in me to puke up.  It was got so bad I forget to check my distance and ran an extra .02. 

53:12 1:10:12 for an 8:33 11:15 overall pace.  For some reason the watch won't upload the run to Strava.  Maybe it realizes it's too slow to post.

It's pretty embarrassing how hard that was for me, when SFDuck is running his easy runs faster than that.  But I feel good about the effort I put out there today.  

I'm going NOT going to take this as my official run and will toe the line on Sunday.  I'll put some thought into a favorable course.  Last night I had a head wind most of the way and a hilly route.  At least that way Team Gru has hope that I pull a muscle on my Sunday attempt and log a DNF.  If @gruecd was a shrewd team captain, he'd be working the waiver wire and making a last minute sub. 

I also lost 7 pounds on this run and felt pretty sick the rest of the evening. Good times.

 

[SteelCurtain]

10K Race Report - warning - looong

Course Selection
This one definitely took up a lot of my headspace in the last few weeks.  I went through endless route possibilities in my head, but as I opined on here I wasn't really happy with any of them.  A week out, I was sort of leaning to doing it on the track per tri-man's suggestion.  Two things were bothering me about that, though : 1. I worried there would be too many people there, as I'm wasn't going to run anytime before 10AM, 2. It really bothers me that the GPS is so off on the track, and the thought of having some stupid fake 10K record that wasn't true but I didn't want to delete on Strava filled me with dread.  

The wife actually suggested a local rail trail on Monday morning.  Checking it out online, it had a nice stead decline, no major road crossings, and with a NNE direction could potentially give favorable winds.  So, I tried it out on Monday, and it is quite wide and scenic.  The only problem is that it is almost all gravel, so I knew that would counteract some of the downhill benefit, but it still seemed like my best option.

Pre-Race
I didn't want to wait until the weekend, and was originally targeting late Friday morning, which would have the most favorable wind, but weather forecast was warm and humid, so yesterday I switched to planning a Thursday evening attempt with a slightly favorable wind.  Finished my work around 4:30, wife had some pizza ready for me.  Had some espresso around 6:00 and did a quick warmup around the neighborhood, then got in the car with the wife.

Strategy
Pacing was another thing that was driving me a bit batty.  No 10K race experience.  My 10K record was a half marathon split, so I was pretty sure I could beat that, and was also confident I would go sub 43:00 unless something was terribly amiss.  How much would the downhill help?  Tailwind?  How much would the gravel hurt?  No race environment?  My half marathon PR calculated to 41:55 equivalent, 5K PR to 40:43 on Jack Daniels.  I decided to set my watch for a 6:30-6:45 band and see what happened.

Race
Not much traffic, so got there a little earlier than I planned, but no sense sitting around with dread.  Emptied the bladder, jogged about 30 seconds to the start, then started the watch as the wife drove away.

Mile 1 : 6:24 (3:13, 3:11)
This was the biggest downhill, but still probably a little hot.  Also my only traffic snafu - at the very first road crossing, perhaps the most blind one, there was a truck coming around the turn at almost the worst time.  I high tailed it across as he approached and easily crossed, but I felt a little guilty as it sounded like he slowed down, probably worried if there was another runner behind me.  Didn't have traffic at any of the other crossings, though.
Mile 2 : 6:32 (3:15, 3:17)
Settling in, though still not sure of the pacing - definitely felt less painful than a 5K at this point, more painful than a half, so we're good, maybe?
Mile 3 : 6:42 (3:17, 3:24)
This contained the only paved section and also the only hill as the course detours through some soccer fields and parking lots.  The distraction of having to focus to follow the course was nice.
Mile 4 : 6:39 (3:23, 3:24)
Definitely started feeling it pretty good here, and I lost the tailwind here and was feeling the difference. Counting down the distance to the finish.
Mile 5 : 6:55 (3:24, 3:30)
After my recon I was worried about this mile - road crossings were done, and the trail just goes on and on between some houses and a golf course here, and there are just no landmarks at all.  Very tough mentally.
Mile 6 : 7:02 (3:23, 3:38)
I was happy with my run except for the second half of this mile.  It actually pisses me off looking at and I don't have a good explanation - just lost focus.  I was gassed, but I definitely could have run this mile 10 seconds faster.
Last .21x : 6:31 pace
Spied my wife at the finish line, gave what little I had left.  Done!  Hooray!  Thank you Springfield, there will be no encore!  10K are teh suck.

41:39
Final Thoughts
Thankful for this series to give me something to push for.  I'm happy with the time and my effort.  I definitely noticed some slippage on the gravel, but I don't think I would have beaten this time on the track.  Pacing wasn't great, but from experience I tend to be better at hanging on than trying to negative split.  Garmin had my HR 193-195 between miles 2.5-6.2, and that matched the Fitbit so I don't think I had much left.

Go team Juxt!

Wow!  I’m not beating that.  Great job teammate.

Two things that blew my mind.

1.  Pizza right before you ran?   

2.  No warmup?  You just went after your wife dropped you off?  (30 seconds doesn’t count as a warmup to me)

How old are you?  16?

 

[JShare87]

I'm going NOT going to take this as my official run and will toe the line on Sunday.

Not sure what page, article, and section number this falls under, but you cannot attempt it twice.

 

[Juxtatarot]

Not sure what page, article, and section number this falls under, but you cannot attempt it twice.

According to rule § 226.3(b), you can attempt multiple times if you bail or immediately declare an attempt invalid afterwards.  What he is doing is permissible, but he can’t change his mind later count this run instead of Sunday’s.