Ft. Hunt 10k--Race Report

The events prior to the race did not go as planned. I was late leaving the house because J was sick and I took some time to make sure she didn't need me to stay. I had to stop for gas, and then I had a directional problem. I knew where I was going, but when I got off 495 I thought Route 1 intersected the road I needed to turn on to, but it actually ran parallel. I didn't get too far before I realized my mistake.

I got to the race about 15 minutes before the start. I just had time to register, use the facilities, and get changed. The course was 5+ laps around the perimeter road of a park. It sounds like it might be boring, but that wasn't the case. The lack of a warmup made me decide to make my race plan run 6:30s and try to pick up the pace for the last mile or two.

I was able to execute my plan quite well. My splits for the first four miles were 6:33, 6:37, 6:32, and 6:32. I was feeling strong and in control. During the fifth mile, I made a move. Picking up my pace, I caught up to two runners who had been ahead of me for most of the race and passed them. My split for the fifth mile was 6:29. During the sixth mile I continued to press and open up more of a gap. I ran the sixth mile in 6:18, and then ran the last .2 miles in 69 seconds to finish in 40:13 (watch time). I know my splits don't add up right; I truncated the decimal points.

Overall, I'm very pleased with this race. I felt very strong aerobically and only felt like I was breathing hard as I kicked in the last .2 miles. I want to continue to increase my mileage and be as strong as possible for the marathon.

This week is a cutback week. I had planned on higher mileage before the race last week, and even though that didn't work out I'm still taking this week easy. Both Monday and Tuesday were seven mile days.