Pre-Race Thoughts on the TC 10 Mile

I'm scared to write anything here.

I wrote about what I thought I could do last year before the 10 mile, but then I ended up going out too hard while posting my slowest ever final 2 miles during that 10 mile. I had stated I wanted to go sub-62 (around 1:01:40 maybe) but ended up at 1:02:44. That 64 sec difference felt pretty crappy.

This year, I KNOW I'm in better shape. I've been having KILLER long runs lately, posting about possibly my best long run ever in mid-Aug followed by an even BETTER long run the week after that! (Usually a not-so-great long run will have "pace miles" around 6:2x pace, and a decent long run will have pace miles around lower 6:1x pace. Once I'd been under 6:10, but those 2 links above were long runs with "pace miles" at 6:07 pace, and then 6:02 pace!) And after those 2 good runs and then a break in long runs for the Square Lake Triathlon, I came back and posted "pace miles" at 6:04 pace about 10 days ago, the day after a hard (and risky) post-race training week.

I've been piling on the speed work this summer. Last summer, I noted having 9 speed work sessions from mid-June through race day (as well as a 1 mile race and a sprint triathlon). This year, I've had 12 speed work sessions in the same stretch (and the same 1 mile and sprint triathlon, but ALSO a track meet), and I also was doing a lot more speed work all spring leading into summer. I came into this "season" a lot stronger, and posted my 3rd fastest 1 mile, my 3rd fastest 5K, and hit my goals for a 10K (0:26 off my course PR).

I posted a great run split at the Square Lake Triathlon a few weeks ago, but that 5K is much shorter than a 10 mile. And then I had a not so great final hard run last week. That was a bit of a bummer.

Another bummer is that race day looks to be WARM. We've already got "red flag race condition" warnings from TC in Motion for the race weekend. At this moment, Sunday is supposed to have a morning low of 67 and an afternoon high of 84. Ideally, I'd be running at 45 degrees, not 70. And almost more important than the temp for me is the humidity - I do NOT do well with a lot of moisture in the air. The temperture and dew point are the big "X factors" for me in this race.

All that being said, what are my goals? Like I said (and then failed to do) last year, I'd love to be sub-1:02. I actually think I could be in shape to go sub-1:01.

I had a mantra for the Square Lake Triathlon a few weeks ago of "No... FASTER!" I said that to myself when I was on the bike as to not just settle in and be satisifed with my splits. That can NOT be my mantra for a 10 mile or I'll blow up. But what I'd like to do is to not give away too much time in those middle miles. If I hit mile 8 around 51:00 (assuming I can run 12:00 for the last 2 miles - hopefully faster!), I've put myself in a spot to maybe break 1:03... NOT my goal. But if I hit mile 8 around 49:00, then I've got a shot at sub-1:01. I want to be able to give myself a CHANCE. So my mantra needs to be something along those lines to help me suffer in miles 4-8: I need to push hard to put myself in a position to make my goal possible. Maybe I'll hit it, or maybe I'll crash and burn. But "give yourself a CHANCE" will be going through my head as I try to push myself through those middle miles.

I'll be looking back to previous TC 10 Mile splits over these next few days. Even though I ended up going out a bit too hard last year, I'm hoping to be a bit faster at the half-way point this year. I have the training to do that, and then I need to keep holding onto the pace for those harder miles starting Summit Ave (miles 6 and 7 especially). If I'm to "give myself a chance" then I need to know what sort of splits I could/should be running.

Bottom line: if I run a perfect race and if the temps and humidity don't bother me too much, then around 61 mins is on the table! But otherwise I see this as a sort of "test" to see if shorter and more frequent speed work is going to help me over longer races, and if my faster long runs will translate to a faster race (or does it just mean I've gotten better at running those "pace miles" workouts faster?). I DO really want this to be a fast race, but my emotional well-being is in no way tied to this race - it'd just be a little "well shoot... dammit" if I'm a lot slower than I think I should be.

My 10 mile PR was when I was coached to a 59:05 in 2010, and then my 2nd fastest was the following year where I ran 1:01:20 using some of the same workouts. (I think I've had 3 or 4 races in the upper 1:01s, a WHOLE LOT in the 1:02s, and 1 just into the 1:03s where I did the "Loony Challenge" - a 10K and 5K the day before.) I'm also talking about good races where I was 29 and 30-years-old, so that's intimidating to this 43-year-old body. But I'd LOVE to see if I can get my time between those top 2 race times! That'd be AMAZING.

Check back after this weekend to see what happens!....