Longest Day 10K Race Report

First things first, the 10K on Friday afternoon (weekend update coming up later) I went home from work and had about 1 hr to relax, stretch, and have something to eat before the race. For some reason I was not feeling the race readiness I always feel, and I think it might have to do with the fact that the race was on a Friday afternoon. I like racing in the morning / noon, but not in the afternoon / night when energy levels are running low, especially after a regular day involving a swim and a regular work day.

As I was biking to UBC, perfect for getting 20 min bike warm up before the real warm up, I was trying to get myself pumped and excited about the race. I found this quite difficult, the spark was not there. I arrived to the race venue about 1 hr before race start with plenty of time to pick up my timing chip, change into racing gear, warm up and stretch. As time ticked I was getting somewhat ready psychologically as well (courtesy of the music on the background, runners warming up, and other friends racing), 10 minutes to go I was on race mode.

I had checked the results for the past 2 or 3 years, and I had seen that there was a possibility for good placing if I had a good run, so I lined myself at the very front on the inside line to the first turn. The gun went off and the switch flipped like it always does. The race was 2x5km loops around the UBC campus area, and my goal was to negative split them. Because I run a 34:20 in the Sun Run 2 months ago, I thought that under 34 minutes was a good goal for the race. The plan was to do 17 minutes in the first lap, and anything under that on the second. A few kilometers into the race and 3 of us were battling it out physically and mentally, continuously switching places and trying to get into the others head. First lap ends, the 3 of us 7 seconds apart, 16:40 my split, upppss too fast… Second lap it was getting harder, the legs started to feel the week of training, and I was not breathing as comfortably as I was on the first lap. Splits slowing down, Brad Cunningham (his blog at bradcunningham.blogspot.com) pulled away, I have no answer. 2 km to go and he is getting smaller, I was in second place, and third place guy (50m back) started to look bigger. 1km to go, Brad too far ahead, third place guy looking bigger (maybe 40m back now). 200m to go and I hear Brad finishing, looked back and 3 place guy 10m behind. Crap! I have no more reserves, nothing left in the tank, I lengthen my stride and try to hold on for dear life. 100m to go I was passed at the start of the finishing chute. No answer, nothing, let it go.

34:49, about 30 seconds off my PB 2 months ago. The final time did not please me to be honest, but there are things to be learned from the race, and that’s why I raced it in the first place (with no changes to my training week except for skipping 1.5 hr moderate ride at noon). I wanted to see what I could do on tired legs, and I did. I wanted to negative split the 5k, I did not. Maybe I went out too fast on the first 5km, maybe not. Maybe on fresh legs I can hold that pace and that will give me a 33:20 10k. The first 5km felt easy and smooth, but after that my quadriceps got 2 times heavier. Maybe I should do some longer runs, as I think I have some decent speed. There are many things I have to look back into to figure out the next steps regarding my running are. As for now, I might join coach Alan from Leading Edge for some track workouts and tips on Wednesday mornings. Overall it was a good race.

The post race food was just incredible. Burgers, European sausages, chips, fruits, yoghurt, tofu, cookies, chips, salsa, strawberry cheesecakes, iced teas, juices, and so much more. Even if I did not enjoy the race (although I did), I would be back next year for the post race party! Congrats to Graeme for the event! Thanks Patrice and Frederique for cheering me on! Congrats to Ryan for a 10k PB and to Brad for taking the race! I almost forgot, thanks to Jeremy from Speed Theory for leading us through the course on your Cervelo, it was a pleasant surprise to have someone you know out there =)