Sunday, May 13, 2007

10K in Mississauga - better than expected

Short:
My predicted time, based on the 5K was 46:30. I would be happy with anything below 46:00.
My time 44:58 (chip time 44:53). My Garmin GPS time 44:57, showing 10.05 km.
From race profile it seemed before the race like it was a downhill race, my feeling during the race was that it was quite a hilly course.


Longer:
I am a beginner, this was my first 10K race. I did plan to run negative splits 23:30-22:30. But I also didn't want to look at my watch for my first few kilometers. I was scared when I have seen my time after 1 km in a 5K race in Waterloo just a few weeks earlier - I was running far to fast, couldn't help it and slowed down worrying that I will not be able to finish that race running but will have to walk.

Similar story today. This time after 500 hundred meters I have picked up a guy, who looked old and wise, at least from behind, he was in my age group as I discovered after the race, and I decided to race him ( he didn't know it, so it was more like I have followed him) for as long as possible. Around the 3rd kilometer the distance between me and my opponent started to increase. I begun to look for another person to race with or to follow, from the fifth kilometer it seemed like all racers in front of me started to drift forward, I also noticed more people - fast like rockets - passing by me to the front. I checked my time - way ahead of my plan - scared again, I think more than in Waterloo - decided to slow down or didn't have will power or experience to keep the fast pace. My 7th kilometer was painfully slow, I was able to pick up the pace on the 8th km, the 9th was again very slow as I was able to see the finish line across the water and it seemed so far away. I was able to increase my speed on the last kilometer. My first 5K - 21min, my last 5K - 24min.

Finish in less that 45 minutes, 4th in my age category, 86th of 1124 runners, much better than my expectations, although for sure overall it was downhill course, especially in the first part. The biggest problem I had during the race was on uphills - I was losing a lot on them. Learning to run hills will be my priority in my preparations for my Half Marathon race.

results
photos

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