Times Colonist 10K - Run10k

My goal has been to break 40 mminutes for the last couple of years and I thought I had a good shot at it this year. I started just behind a guy who I know runs between 38:30-39:30. I sat on his shoulder for the first 4km, but as you head into the 5th k it starts to go uphill and he took off at a pace I thought was too hard, so I let him go and just focused on holding a steady pace, but nothing too hard as I wanted to go hard the last couple kilometers. I hit the 7th kilometer and picked the pace back up to where I wanted to be. The 8th kilometer was the hardest of the race, it has the steepest hill and I put in a huge effort to not lose anymore time, but I must have lost a few more seconds as I hit the 9th k 25 seconds down from where I wanted to be. I decided it was all or nothing and tried to pour it on to the end, but alas, I didn't quite have enough to break 40. Still, I have to be happy, my old PB was 41:02, so I ended up with a new PB and the confidence that if I had just paced myself properly in the middle of the race I could have hit sub 40. Next time for sure.

I needed to pace myself better in the middle of the race. If I had just pushed a bit harder I think I would have been fine, instead I sat back too much and couldn't make the time up at the end.

Easy jog/walk and stretch for 20 minutes.


At this point it is more mental than physical. Physically I know I can break 40 minutes, but mentally it seems much harder!!! Definetely next time.


This race is one of my favorites, right along the water, great scenery, well organised, fantastic event.