He Came, He Cramped, He Conquered I didn’t cramp but I did come and conquer as little as a race as this may be… I can log my first 10K race in the books! But who cramped? More on that later… And let me say first… Donna ran her very first 5K race after just a month or so of running 5Ks and less doing 6-10 miles a week. And she finished her first 5K race in 35:27! She came in 10th out of 36 which puts her in the top third of the pack in her AG! A first time race at top of the pack. Wow. She predicted a 40 minute 5K and I told her she’d probably run it faster than she thought. She pushed it a little too hard and at mile 2 took a little walk to cool off (30 steps she said) and then went strong to the finish. Congrats! I am so proud of her. It takes a lot to go out there with a bunch (and there were A TON) of runners and hold your own no matter what. Awesome, honey! I’m proud of you! GET ADDICTED! And on to my 10K race. There were 21 runners in my AG. A total of 157 runners in the 10K run with 91 total Males runners. I’m getting to be a middle of a packer but usually back of the pack runner. Today my goal was to be better than 9:25 minute miles: which would be around a 58 minute 10K run. The day didn’t start off great. I think I have a pinched nerve or something. I had a headache on Friday and on Saturday and I woke up with one on Sunday. My muscles were fatigued, my ankle a little sore for some odd reason, and I was tired. But I was going to run - its just a headache right? I can do some physical activity like paintball, triathlons, running, but if I had to do some analytical work, writing or mental exercises its almost impossible with a headache. Weird huh? So I ran with a headache. The 10K is a two loop run around the Rose Bowl. A course I’m very familiar with as I run this a couple of times a month and of course I bike it too. Today was a little different as we ran counter clockwise, which to me is an easier run. It starts with a steady incline until you get to the first turn North of the bowl where it levels off then it’s a run on a decline. The stretch to the finish line is an incline which would be a serious burn at the end. I had to do the course twice so I had to plan it right. Training is so different than racing. My mind wanders quite a bit during a training run: I fantasize about the run in an Ironman, I think about work, about a script I’m working on… I think about the next time I’ll be running or what I want for dinner. During a race I’m all focus. I can’t remember a time during this race where I was thinking about something other than the race: from pace, effort, planning ahead. Its all about each step which leads to the next and finally the last. I tend to have a fast first split time and I knew that would be killer as it was an incline start. I told myself that if it felt good, I’d keep it under 9:25 and back off a little during the flat to rest then pick up the pace during the fast part of the course. Then for the second lap I knew I’d be more fatigued and would probably be slower going up but try to really pick it for the last two miles. That was my plan and it worked. The first mile was comfortable and I was under my target pace and felt good about it: 9:06. I was only going to get faster on the faster part of the course and naturally I was. Mile two and three were at 8:34 and 8:41 respectively. It was a fast 5K split time of around 26:30 which is 30ish seconds off my personal best 5K race a month ago. Then came the 2nd lap and the tough incline of mile four which I struggled through. I looked at my watch and I was way off pace: 10:45. I remembered some ChiRunning form and leaned in to the run. It felt like a sprint but not quite. I was at 192 beats per minute so I knew I was pushing. It was tough but not that tough. And believe it or not, I was right on pace! 9:06 for mile four!!! This only meant a faster finish than I ever predicted! I was going to run the last two at a very high effort level. My breathing and heart felt good. But my legs started to feel heavy yet I poured it on as best as I could. I passed some runners that I was pacing and took advantage of the fast part of the course. I ran mile five in 8:58 and mile six in 8:44 and gave it my all going up the hill to the finish (.25 miles) in 2:11! My final time: 55:19!!! I beat my personal best by three whole minutes! And best but not least… I came in the top third of my age group. I was in the top of the pack versus where I usually am – last of the pack or around there! I placed 7th out of 21 in my AG and 38 out of 91 of the males and 54th overall out of 187! At first I thought 10K races were just too much. But after crossing the finish line I think this distance is a perfect length to race. There’s a lot that goes into it – pace, effort, etc. On a 5K its just run and run fast. For me, a 10K with improper planning could lead to that dreaded wall and a poor finish. I gave it my best shot. I was exactly where I wanted to be nearly every step of the way! My headache was gone… that is about till a half hour after the race on the way home. It came back. And that’s all she wrote. I had it for the rest of the day, the night and unfortunately, I have a slight one this morning. But I’ll survive I guess. Oh, here are my splits: Mile 1: 0:09:06 Mile 2: 0:08:34 Mile 3: 0:08:41 Mile 4: 0:09:05 Mile 5: 0:08:58 Mile 6: 0:08:44 Mile 6.25: 0:02:11 FINAL TIME: 0:55:19 for an average of 8:51 minute miles. Heart Rate Data: Mile 1: 173 Mile 2: 187 Mile 3: 188 Mile 4: 191 Mile 5: 191 Mile 6: 190 Mile 6.25: 197 Next up – · City of Angels Half Marathon- Sunday December 3, 2006 - Half Marathon Run/Walk (13.1 miles) I’m in for the challenge of a lifetime there. But heck, if I can do a sprint Triathlon in two and a half hours, I can run a half marathon for two and a half hours right? I mean heck… its just running… And on to this… “He Came, He Cramped, He Conquered” Cycling champion Lance Armstrong calls the ING New York City Marathon “the hardest physical thing I’ve ever done” Wow… He did it! He made it! He cramped? I watched an interview with him once where he said he hasn’t cramped in like several years. He couldn’t remember the last time he cramped. And yesterday… he cramped. While Donna was running a 5K and I was running a 10K, Lance was running 26.2 miles which he’s never done before. And get this… he made it in just under his goal of 3:00:00 in 2:59:36. Awesome! Read the story here: “He Came, He Cramped, He Conquered”