Along with a new date came a new course. In years past, it was more of a down and back, which I liked because you could look for all the runners you knew and see who's ahead or behind you. The new course was more of a loop, but a lot of runners liked it too, and it went through neighborhoods with shade. I believe it also started a half hour earlier to beat the heat (not that that helped much). The race temps were sunny in the high 70s to start, and low 80s by the time I finished.
I met up with Fair Weather Runner, Mark, and a few other mutual friends before the gun sounded, and when I say gun, I mean a big, fucking loud, National Guard Howitzer (cannon) that makes you leap out of your shorts as it reverberates off of all the buildings around. On the plus side, after you climb back into your shorts, the adrenaline rush makes any pace seem easy. First miles of races are usually easy anyway, but I could tell pretty quick that I was heating up, and not in a good way.
By mile 3 I was a sweaty mess. I had planned on PRing even with the heat, since I easily set a PR at every distance I attempted in the past year. Alas, it was not to be, those 80º temps just don't like to yield fast times. To finish the race, I had to out kick another runner, which is more of an effort than I'd like to give when my heart rate is over 200 and I'm drenched in sweat.
Speaking of heart rate, here's my HR chart. I think it does a good job of showing my effort. By mile 3, I was averaging 191 bpm, which I figure is about 90% of my max HR. At the finish, it maxed out at 208. That is as high as I've ever seen my ticker get.
Here are my splits. Not bad that they were all within 13 seconds of each other except for the final 0.2 mi.
The month before I ran a half marathon in great weather conditions, and my average pace was only 5 seconds slower.
My mommy and daddy fought the crowds and waited at the finish line for about 45 minutes just so they could watch the last 15 seconds of my race. I owe my mom some thanks for snapping a pic of me running down the home stretch.
I finished with a chip time of 0:45:14, about 1 minute off my PR. I hoped I could find a positive from this race, so I went back through some previous year's results. I found that prior years I came in in the top 8th - 9th percentile. Since everyone else had to deal with the same conditions, I was able to come in the 7th percentile. So I guess I am improving.
| Wichita River Run 10k Stats | |
|---|---|
| Chip Time | 45:14 |
| Overall Place | 129/1690 |
| Age Group | 15/98 |
| Average Pace | 7:17 |
| Max. Heart Rate | 208 |
Ideally, my post should stop here, and I would give my brain a rest. But that's not how I roll when I haven't posted in a few weeks. Now that the River Run is done, I've set my sights on the Pikes Peak Ascent in August. This race is about as close as I have come to being scared. It is only 13.3 miles, but it is up a mountain with lowering temperatures and oxygen as you get closer to the top.
About a week ago, I gave Pikes Peak veteran Jill a call for the first time, and we talked for over an hour about the race and running in general. It was awesome talking to her, and I'm glad I got to know her outside of just reading her blog.
I've done 3 incline treadmill workouts this past week where I set the incline to 12-15% and I try to find a pace I can sustain. It turns out 3 to 4 mph or 15 to 20 minute miles are about all I can handle. It's not that my heart rate skyrockets, my limiting factor is my muscle burn. I'm used to logging pretty decent mileage, so I have to get used to running for an hour and only having 3 or 4 miles to show for it. On the plus side, I am getting a really good cardio workout without the wear and tear on my joints. I think I've already noticed a difference on my normal runs where my pace seems more effortless.
11 comments:
Wow, considering the temps I would call that a more than successful race!!! You can definitely add at least 15 secs per mile for heat. Great job! That is a seriously high heart rate though...yikes!
Wow o wow, 208 is some pretty serious HR stuff. Nice job though "improving" yet not even having to PR to do so! A 10k in June in the midwest has to be pretty bad....I've run the Bix7 in my hometown of Davenport, Iowa many times and the last time, in 2009, I hadn't been in humidity in years...talk about scary! Thankfully, a cold front came through and I PR'd. :) Trust me, that's never happened before!
Niiiiiiice job on the treadmill incline runs! Totally thought about you today as I ran up some mountain (so it seemed) with the XC team. Made me realize that I am in absolutely no shape to be attempting PP in a mere few weeks :(. But I'm here for you in any way I can!!!
Yah..pretty redlined there...be careful!
Re 15-20m/m...I can do that with a power walk more efficiently than a run..are you really running that kind of incline?!
lol on the big gun at the start, that would scare the crap out of me!
Nice job on the 10K! Sounds like the race did go better than last year, even if it didn't show up in your outright time - going based on how you finished relative to the field compared to the 2 years sounds fair to me.
I love your heartrate data - and you have the highest heartrate data of anyone out there it seems like! Having your heartrate go to 208 seems insane! I've only seem mine go to 202 I think, my outright max is about 205 I believe.
Your Mom did get a great race pic, nice!
Good luck on the Pike's Peak Marathon, reading about it on 50 is the new 30's blog it sounds super intense. Honestly I'd think of it more like a hike instead of a run, with some running sprinkled in maybe on flats or gradual downhills. I've done some training on 10% inclines before, I can usually only last 2-3 min at a decent pace (8 min miles) before I need to lower the speed. If I lowered the speed to maybe 10 or 11 min miles I could last a mile or so I would guess.
Jill is awesome! Even without a PR, as you say, moving up in percentile is fantastic and definitely shows that you have improved :) Great race!
I love loops! I realized this week I have not run a 10K this year which is unusual. Good luck on the ascent. I hiked that just about a year ago and that was enough for me. Beautiful area.
Wow, that weather REALLY affected your performance. Big time. Crazy it was only 5 sec faster than your Half! I am doing my first 10k every tomorrow. I'm predicting a PR.
p.s. I met Jill in Denver last year. She is aces.
I'm terrified of PP. WSU is making my idea to run benches impossible, with their weird stadium hours. Should be very interesting...
P.S. I'm heading to PP solo, as K1 starts school so and we don't want to pull her out on her second day. So...no park meetups with kiddos. I'm pretty bummed about this, as I think it would have been a great time.
Wow, you went on a commenting binge on my blog, haha
2010 was indeed a crazy year of traveling and events, Besides 2002 when I graduated college it was the most I've ever traveled in a year I think.
Awesome on Minnesota - I have relatives in southeast Minnesota, and we used to go there every summer for family trips. Now we go every couple years or so, always fun to visit there. The mosquitos are indeed everywhere!
Yea, I probably should not be watching Jersey Shore, but I can't help myself, haha The season in Italy starts on MTV soon =)
I did ask my physical therapist about using a knee strap, she said she would hold off on me using it for now. I am getting closer to being able to run, my guess is maybe in a month or so I can start out. My pain level is gradually decreasing, but I still feel some pain depending on what I'm doing, or if I'm standing for a long time my knee seems to get worse. I might try asking my PT again when I see her next to see what she says now.
you may have already saw on my blog, but I tagged you with a Q&A award, haha
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