Location: Glenview, Illinois
Date: September 9, 2012
Weather: Sunny, low 60s, winds 10-15 mph.
Scoring: By age group (5 males aged 55-59), gender (59 male), and overall (over 100 male/female)
Following the triathlon in late June, I'd put run and bike training aside to focus on preparation for a two mile open water swim in mid July. I'd encountered sighting problems during the triathlon swim phase and focused on that aspect as well as building endurance. But unfortunately, that race was postponed to early August due to thunderstorms and later cancelled.
So from late July onwards I decided to train for a couple of upcoming road races. I had a choice to run either 5k or 10k in Glenview and early on, chose the shorter distance. There would be a second road race three weeks afterwards, in Lancaster, PA (where my parents live), so I decided to use the first race to try and get comfortable with pacing and race management.
Heading into the week before the race, I felt strong enough from the prior five weeks of training to try for an average pace somewhere around a 7:05. My stretch target was to finish at or below 22 minutes flat. I wanted to run a few seconds slower than average pace in the first mile, perhaps a 7:10 split, then push it a little in the second and maintain in the third. And despite a sore left quad and being seven pounds heavier than on the date of the June triathlon, I felt ready to go.
But then the race organizers put out an email a half week before the event that the course was torn up due to road work and they had to re-route the race. Good thing they found that out before the race, else we'd all be running some crazy steeplechase instead ! But just a couple of days later, they put out another communication saying not to worry, the construction crew had since gone into overdrive, work was now complete, and we're back to the original route, which is laid out on a series of neighborhood streets and sidewalks. Just speculating, but perhaps the Glenview Rotary (the meet sponsor) was able to use some of its leverage to get things squared away there.
Well, what a beautiful day awaited all entrants at this year's race in Glenview ! I'd woken up early - again, with the help of our dog - ate a banana and a couple of pieces of bread, got dressed and made the 15 minute drive to the event site. Arrived in plenty of time to check in, warm up and stretch. I lined up just behind the first row of runners (all 5k and 10k participants started at the same starting line at the same time) and awaited the start gun. Within a couple seconds of the gun I crossed the timing mat and found my stride. Although I wasn't nervous, I soon felt swept up in the enthusiasm surrounding me. That effect was enhanced by the cheering onlookers plus a community pep band. Plus a healthy tailwind was pushing me along. It's possible that the lead runners had an effect on me too. Although I didn't make an effort to stay with them, and even with other runners passing me I knew I was running a bit faster than originally planned - even with my heart rate remaining within the target zone. And that was confirmed after hitting the one mile mark - a 6:54 split, almost a quarter minute ahead of plan.
Oops.
So armed with that knowledge I elected simply to try and hold on to that pace. There would be no attempt to "chase the bear" any harder than I had been. But the course direction had since changed and the wind would no longer be of any help - perhaps would even be a hindrance from there on out. Plus my heart rate was now pushing into the mid to high 160s - not a zone that I could reasonably sustain. So I felt compelled to back off the pace a bit - in spite of just a few runners passing me in the middle mile - and the second half split of 7:09 provided confirmation of that.
Mile 3 immediately transitions from an asphault street surface to a concrete sidewalk for most of the third mile. At that point, the field was stretched out so the narrow sidewalk wouldn't be too much of a limiter if I wanted to pass someone. But I had no energy to make a push in that third mile and at the two mile mark my thoughts changed to simply "let's finish." True, I was well within striking distance of my 22 minute target, but somehow a feeling emerged that perhaps simply throwing down a time that I knew I could build on would be sufficient on this particular day. The desire to go for it was gone by that point and instead I throttled it back a little more to stay at least below a 165 heart rate.
By the third mile mark my concentration wasn't there. I didn't even get a good read on my last mile pace by that point. So just as I rounded the final turn and headed for home, I dialed it up. But within about fifty meters to go, a youngster (I would later learn he was 9 years old) passed me in a dead sprint.
 |
| Fans were treated to an exciting stretch run featuring this emerging young harrier who proceeded to leave me in the dust - turns out he's young enough to be my grandson. |
I tried to stay with him, then smiled, shrugged and finished it out. I crossed the finish timing mat at 22:17 - indicating a 7:30 final mile pace and not the result I'd hoped for originally. But at least it was respectable - good enough for a third place ribbon in my age group, twentieth male and 23rd overall.
Turns out that day that there were a couple of very strong runners in my AG - and had I registered as someone ten years younger, would have won the 45-49 men's age group. But I'd learned alot from this first road race experience and was hopeful this would help me in a race three weeks hence.
