Rockville Rotary Twilight Runfest - Run


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rockville, Maryland
United States
Montgomery Country Road Runners Club
80F / 27C
Total Time = 50m 43s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 99/123
Pre-race routine:

Since this is a night race, tried to be careful about nutrition all day. Focused on water since it could be warm. Felt the need for some protein around 5pm, but should have had one egg instead of 2 since that made me feel too full.
Event warmup:

Walked around, drank water
Run
  • 50m 43s
  • 4.97 miles
  • 10m 12s  min/mile
Comments:

My goal was to beat my time from 2 years ago, and I did that by 37 seconds for a pace improvement of 7 seconds/mile. Garmin showed me 5secs/mile quicker than that, but happy with either.

I wanted to beat my pace of 10:20 from 2009 when I was doing really well with weight loss and training. I have not run that except once this year following last year's implosion. While my pace had been improving of late, the past few week, my runs of 5-8 miles have been around 11/mile. I studied the only 2 recent training runs with a pace of 10:30 or less (3 months ago I was training at 12:30). I decided to go out at about 10:30 for the first couple of miles. I also decided to put my garmin on actual/average pace, plus HR. Went out and up the first hill and my pace while strong, felt ok and was averaging 10:21. Good! Found some people that seemed to be running that pace, and tried to pace off them. They would slow on the small hills, and I would find someone new. I also knew that with a lot of turns on the course, sighting would be important for running the most efficient and quickest line. So, I did a very good job of looking ahead on the course, keeping inside and not getting too jammed. Mile 2, again around 10:21. Managed to not see a speed bump in the dark, tripped and almost fell. Strained my knee a little, but ok. My review of the course showed me there would be another rolling hill around mile 3 and on the campus. Decided to try to keep holding my pace at 10:21. Decided to take a Gu at 3 miles and no water during the race unless necessary (it wasn't) The Gu did make a difference I think. Around the final turn at mile 4, and I knew while I would be able to bring it home at this pace, based on my training runs I knew I could pick it up. I also calculated in my head that holding this pace and then pushing it the last mile would get me a 10 second/mile faster average over the eintire race. Switched my Garmin over to pace/distance, and picked up the pace at 4.5 miles, and then again at 4.7. Last mile average was around 9:30. I felt great during the race. Average HR was around 160, and 145 on the downhills. Ran hard, but didn't sprint the finish.

Really happy with the strategy, pacing, and use of course maps and technology.
What would you do differently?:

Keep losing more weight, keep training on hills, more speedwork.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked around, enjoyed a post-race beer and dinner.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Weight

Event comments:

Fun race. Will try to factor this in my training plans in the future.




Last updated: 2011-06-08 12:00 AM
Running
00:50:43 | 04.97 miles | 10m 12s  min/mile
Age Group: 99/123
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
Course: Around the neighborhoods of Rockville, and Montgomery College. Rolling hills. Fun course at night.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4