Sunday, August 14, 2005

Perfect 10-Miler - 2005-08-14

I've had a fairly awful year of running so far. With the possible exception of one little 5K, each and every race has been a disappointment in some way. I've now taken about a month off from racing in order to regroup. Today's race, the Perfect 10-Miler, would be an interesting test. Before the race, I managed to manage my expectations about as well as I could: go out at about 6:45 pace and try to keep from dying. Positive splits and slow finishes have been among my problems in the recent races.

It was extremely humid, but the heat wasn't overly oppressive. I started at said 6:45 or so pace, hitting the half-way point in 34:02. It was tough to catch my breath with all that humility out there. Would I be able to hold the pace?

The short answer turned out to be no. I ran mile 6 in 7:29. It was uphill, so I expected a slow one. Then I was able to pick it up for the last 4. They turned out to be my best ones: 6:40, 6:23, 6:39, 6:25. I finished in 1:07:40 - about a minute slower than last year, but I've decided to be very pleased with it. Pleased due to my strong finish and my place - 1st in the geezer division. All the faster geezers must've stayed home today!

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