TC 10k Race Report

This has to be my quickest race report ever! I'm sitting at work right now waiting for my last table to leave, so I figured now would be a good time to write one.

Where do I start with this race? I don't think I could have prepared any worse for this race, and yet I was still so excited to run it. I had what was probably the heaviest training week of the year this week, including 6 bike workouts on top of my normal workouts. Also, I worked the night before until 10:00 pm, and was running around on my feet for 8 hours pouring drinks. I was tired! When I got home I had to make some dinner, since it was too busy to eat, which went against the specific advice from coach Dan to not go hungry at any time during the day before. I finally got to bed around 12:30.

Up at 6:00 am and I was pretty excited. I knew my legs didn't have their usual jump, but I was sure I could pull at least a PB out of the bag today. I headed down with my Dad and did a pretty solid warmup. I lined up at the start line and as usual, took a good look for my competition. As usual, coach Dan was there along with Gary and some others. I was wondering if this was the day I was going to take Dan....

The gun went off, and the runners shot out of a cannon! The pace was fast, but not too uncomfortable. My legs felt fantastic at this point, and I felt like I could run all day. This first km went by in 3:36, and Dan said that that was a good pace. After another km at the same pace, we headed downhill somewhat along Dallas Rd. I started to feel really good by this point, and started to put some distance on Dan and Gary, who I could hear behind me. At the turnaround, I was happy with the race so far, and was determined to just go hard the entire time.


At around 6km the wheels started to fall off a bit. Saying this, it was not the classic "go out too hard and die" meltdown. I was still feeling great mentally and cardio-y (what a word), but my legs just couldn't do it. They had just done too much this week, and I couldn't get another ounce of strength out of them. That km went by in 3:49, well over my goal pace. Km 7 was not much better, and I let some runners that should not have gotten away get away. I was actually laughing by this point, as I think that I am a pretty good pacer. Today however, it looked like I was an amature that commited the all-too-often error of going out too hard. Km 8 was definately faster than 7, due to the excitement of coming close to the finish. My legs were all but done, but I still pushed them as fast as they could go. I could actually feel how differently my legs were moving compared to earlier in the race when they weren't tired. It was fascinating. Down the home stretch and through the shoot in 36:44, good enough for a 1.5 minute PB.

I think what made me happiest about this race was the fact that I know that if I was well rested, I would have been at least 30 seconds faster than I was today. That puts me in the low 36s which is where I want to be at this point in the season.


My splits were:
3:36, 3:37, 3:34, 3:31, 3:41, 3:48, 3:45, 3:38, 3:42, 3:41

Little Update

I have had some amazing workouts in the past little while. I have biked every day this week and have put in a whopping 240 km, which is pretty good considering that most of that distance is interval and hill reps. I had a good small running interval set with Nick this week, doing 5 x 90 sec hard, and enough warm up and cool down so that Nick can explain some more provincial politics to me.

Swimming has been going well also. Friday, we had the 50m pool out and instead of doing distance, Dan threw us for a loop and gave us a 3 x 10 min set where you had to increase your distance each interval. The second one was the hardest, but I went the farthest on the third one, so I was happy. I never swim well in a 50m pool! Friday saw a 2.5 hour bike with Chris, and we pushed and pulled eachother along the whole time, switching the lead. It was a windy one! At one point we were pedaling pretty hard and hitting a top speed of 25 km/hr! It was a bit demoralizing. This morning was an easy run and spin, in preperation for the TC 10k tomorrow. In another bit of good news, a co-worker heard I was running and offered to switch shifts so that I get off work at 10pm instead of 3am! Looks like I might have a good race afterall!

DONEEEEEEEEEEEE

I am graduated!!!! Well, I have finished all of my exams and now just have to hand in my final copy of my thesis at the end of the month, but for all intensive purposes I am finished! I am soooo happy!
This last week has been epic in training and school. Of course I just happen to have the heaviest week in a while training wise when I have back to back finals and work (which I couldn't take off, since I have no money for rent). ButI am proud to say that I didn't miss a workout, although I did some at pretty strange times.

This past week has been way better for swimming. I have been putting in a good effort to get "in the zone" before I go to swim practice. My coach chuckled when I said this, but I can see a difference in performance depending on my pre-workout routine. Now, I try to get on the pool deck 15 minutes early just to get ready mentally. I hate just rushing through the change room and jumping in the pool. I prefer to treat it like it is a job.

The weekly numbers are :

Actual Time
14:07
Planned Time
14:25
Swim Distance
9700 m
Bike Distance
172 km
Run Distance
42 km
Brick Distance
40 km

Running has been rolling along. I don't know why, but it seems that the more I try and put emphasis on the other two disciplines, the better my running gets! I have been doing some good tempo stuff with Nick (who ran an amazing 33:03 at the Sun Run, which I am sure he is pissed that it wasn't at least 32:59 haha), as well as some great Beaver Lake Runs with the team. On Saturday, we did 8 x 1km and my splits were steady around 3:29-3:32, with my last km at 3:28. Dan wasn't feeling up for a duel that morning, and neither was I. I'm not really sure what the code is for that. We run at the exact same speed, and I'm not sure if it's proper running etiquite (who knows how to spell that!), to wait for him if he's not running his best, or to power along ahead. O well. I'm letting the new road biking rules I have learned get into my head (thanks Jen!).

Biking has been really good lately. All my rides have been outside, which have been amazing. I don't really look at the distance that I bike, since I could be doing hill repeats all day and have no mileage to show for it. Speaking of which, I had the best repeat session of the observatory yesterday. I put on some ACDC, which I have not listened to in like 5 years, and did 5 x 5min standing/seated climbing of the hill. I got up to the NRC building in 5 mins, which I was pretty happy about.

I am super excited for the TC 10k! I have not run a 10k road race yet this year, so I am eager to know where I stand. I know I will be faster, but how much? I would be happy to run 36:xx.

A dopo,

Update

It has been a while since I last blogged. I have been crazy busy writing my thesis and studying for exams. I cannot wait until the summer when all I have to concentrate on is training! This last week has been trying at best on the workout front. My swims have been less than stellar, and it feels like everyone around me is getting better while I am still stuck. I have had a few feel-good run days, and a few nice workouts on the bike, but overall the last two weeks have not been that fun in terms of progress. This last week has been especially hard, as Dan has me on a severe recovery week. We have been steadily ramping it up and I definately agree that it was needed ( a few overuse injuries were making their way up my leg), but it is so hard to not workout, especially when I know my competition is. Two days this week without doing a thing! I actually had a nightmare that my competition beat me in a triathlon! Next week looks pretty juicy though, with tons of biking, running, and swimming! Sorry for the crappy update, but I am sitting outside a coffee shop at 8:30 at night and I am freezing.

Mj