Monday, January 4, 2010

10k Memorial Run - Jan. 1, 2010

This was a low-key club event that took place on New Year's Day. It is a cool run in the sense that it is a predicted run. How it works is that the clock starts at 60 minutes and then counts down to 0. You can leave from the start line whenever you want, and the closest person to 0 wins. Cool idea. Anyone can win.
And as it turns out, there was a real mix of talent. Everyone from the Kenyans to the barmaid showed up. 70 runners in total.
I left at 42:30. I planned on just taking this as a 45 minute recovery run (as I ran 34k the day before), but also figured it would be a little bit faster seeing as people around me were actually racing.
I hung out with Gary Duncan most of the way, and then with 2k to go, I sped ahead wanting to separate myself from him. I figured there was no point in actually finishing with someone...we should really all be spaced out a little bit. However, around the 9k mark, it was evident that everyone had done a great job estimating as there were now heaps of runners on the trail.
In the end, I was pleased to finish in 41:45 (which was 45 seconds too fast). I figured from about the half-way mark that I was on a slightly faster than predicted race, but I also figured winning the race (just by the numbers) was damn near impossible.
I had a great time, and the club did an excellent job of the event. The event started off by the runners standing around the memorial PIH bench, and giving a moment of silence to those standout club members of the past. It was an excellent tribute.
This 10k run was the end of a high mileage week for me, with 3 of the training days being headlamp runs. It would be an 83.5k week for me...one of my highest ever. Hopefully I can put together another solid 2 weeks of training and then the bulk of training for the upcoming Orcas Island 50k will be done.
Things seem to be really good right now with the speed and distance both reaching new heights.
Next weekend begins the Island Series 2010, at the Pioneer 8k.
As I have posted before, anything less than a sub 30 minute (PB) for me would be disappointing.
My expectations are very high for 2010.

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