Short Version – 1:09:04 PR by 52 seconds
Long Version
Came into this race with decent run fitness, and some up and
down results throughout the summer. No
great run race results, but I have had some good results from triathlons so I
was thinking I had a 50/50 shot at a PR.
The weather was decent for the race with very cool temps (30 at the
start) and the wind would not be a headwind for us.
Pre-Race
Nothing special here.
Wake up and have my standard two pieces of toast and some Gatorade and
water. Head to downtown and park in a
nearby ramp. Walk over to the Dome… Of course, seeing tailgaters for the 3:20
Vikings game already setup at 6:00 am was a little bit of a surprise.
Once in the dome I ran into Dave and wished him luck. Then I went to look for a short bathroom
line. I found one where I walked right in
and did my business. Once that was over
with I finalized my race wardrobe and headed to the exit. Ran into a few other runners I knew and said
hello, and then made it to the bag drop and on to the start line. When I got to the corral I bumped into Kraig
and we chatted a bit. Wished each other
luck and off to find the correct spot to start my race from. I also took in my gel and some more Gatorade
to finalize my pre-race fueling.
Off We Go
On your marks, go…
With that we all started running.
I was close to the front (12 seconds to the mat) and had no trouble with
the crowd. Quickly got into my groove
and tried to not take the race out too fast as is typical for me. Take advantage of the downhill, but don’t
burn yourself up is all I was thinking.
As we were going through the second mile I started to peel my outer
shirt I was wearing just for that purpose.
I wanted to be ready at the aid station to ditch it. Up the steep hill to the bridge I simply
concentrated on keeping the feet turning over and soon enough I was on the
bridge heading to the water stop at mile 3.
Ditched the shirt and grabbed a water making good time. Knowing what was ahead I wanted to work on
staying smooth on mile 4 and then really stay strong and not slow down too much
on the hills. When I hit the halfway
mark I saw 34:XX on my watch and was pleased.
I had a little in the bank, but I did not want to waste it on the
hills.
Through the three miles of uphill I worked hard on staying
strong and was glad to see my slowest mile was 7:10 in this section. Exactly what I wanted to do. When I got to the flat area at the top I
tried to put in a little push as I was feeling good probably due to the cool
temperatures. My last three mile splits
were all good and led me to a negative split for the race.
Finish
I knew I would have a PR as I was approaching the finish
line so I was very happy. When I saw how
close I came to 1:08 I wished I had a little more somewhere, but overall a
great race for me.
Post Race
Right at the finish I saw Dave again and he said he did a
1:04 and was very pleased with his race.
Roger was right behind me at the finish and we all congratulated each
other on a strong race. With the temps
still being chilly, I went off to get my dry clothes and needed to bail out so
I did not freeze. I went and caught a bus
back to the start line and back to the hotel for a shower. Overall, a great day at the races…
Details
Here are the mile splits.
Overall, I was very pleased with my pacing for the race. I came through the five mile mark in 34:47
official time so 17 seconds of the extra 28 belongs spread out in the first
five and the other 11 gets split up over the last five mile splits. Bottom line, I managed a well paced negative
split effort.
6:41 – mile 1 adrenaline and a little bit of a downhill.
6:40 – solid downhill mile, try not too go out too fast now.
7:13 – toughest single hill on the course getting up to the Franklin Ave. Bridge.
6:52 – nice flat mile to get back to pace before the hills
start.
7:04 – start of the hills.
7:10 – work on staying strong as there is another mile of
these hills.
7:01 – last mile with real hills in it.
6:44 – course flattens out, time to get back to pace.
6:45 – hold the pace because I know mile 10 is downhill and
quick.
6:22 – let gravity help on the downhill, and give it
everything I got.
0:28 – miscellaneous GPS time/distance.
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