Marine Corps Marathon 10K - Run10k


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Arlington, Washington, D.C.
United States
55F / 13C
Sunny
 		Total Time = 48m 51s
Overall Rank = 230/1553
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 17/82
Pre-race routine:

Of course I started with a serious head cold on Friday which quickly accelerated to plugged sinus' on Saturday -- call in the decongestants BUT also call in having to pee all the time. Drank copius amounts of fluids on Saturday. Was up late Saturday night watching football; didn't get lights out until about 12:00.

Alarm went off at 5:20 -- Note to self: don't take Nyquil 5 hours before you're supposed to get up. Was in a SERIOUS fog; didn't get out the door until almost 6:30. Had a bowl of Lucky Charms to get something in my stomach -- no Fiber One Flakes for me (learned that lesson the hard way last year!). Stopped at Starbucks and got a small coffee; made it to the metro by 7, and after being packed in the metro like a sardine, finally got to the Pentagon start line around 7:45.
Event warmup:

Warmed up with stretching and general walking around. Had to pee every 10 minutes it seemed - damned decongestants and coffee... The wind was brutal from the north, but the sunrise was spetacular. Everybody was in a great mood.
Run
  • 48m 51s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 07m 52s  min/mile
Comments:

Absolute fabulous run for me. Here are the splits:

1: 8:34
2: 7:44
3: 7:19
4: 7:51
5: 7:55
6: 7:48
End: 3:56 (0.542 miles)

I was wondering about keeping the pace at the mid point but my HR was below my LT by 3-4 beats (~ 161), and I felt absolutely fine. Kept my strides short, cadence up as much as I could, and kept leaning forward into the wind. I did peak coming up the Iwo Jima hill (sprinted) at 186 BPM, which is a new max HR for me. Spent over 33 minutes in zone 5.
What would you do differently?:

NADA. Fantastic race for me, and will do it again as long as my knees can hold up.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked around the finish line looking for a few folks I knew; grabbed some raisins, a nanner, and some drink and headed towards the Roslyn metro.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

My weight, more time running.

Event comments:

Absolute incredible race venue. Highly, highly recommended! :)




Last updated: 2007-09-04 12:00 AM
Running
00:48:51 | 06.21 miles | 07m 52s  min/mile
Age Group: 17/82
Overall: 230/1553
Performance: Good
My GPS gives a very different distance than what they said was 10K; my GPS said I traveled 6.542 miles in 51:12 (7:48 pace). Official race results show me as 50:40 in chip time (51:19 in clock time), so I know the course was long :( Bozos. In this day and age of GPS there is no excuse not to have an exact length for these courses. I'm putting down my GPS time and distance for 10K; multi-satellite GPS doesn't lie -- race planners do. :)
Course: Arlington side of the Potomac, from the Pentagon to Crystal City, back around the Pentagon, then past Arlington Cemetary, finishing up at the Iwo Jima Memorial.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? No
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5