Race Report - Snowman Stampede
1 year ago I ran the Snowman Stampede in 1:17:31, finishing 79th, a 7:46 pace. After that race I set a goal to come back and run it in under 70 minutes, in a sub 7min pace. Today was the day to see if I could do it.
10 miles became a significant distance for me in 2009. I would think about this goal while I ran around Boulder Rez, twice, over 10 miles or when I would run 10 miles while travelling on the hotel treadmill, or running around Marshall Mesa, just under 10 miles. 10 miles is between the 10K and the 1/2 marathon and is squarely in the middle of the distances I currently target as a runner. I am not a fast runner but in 2009 I decided that I could become a much better runner at these middle distances. So meeting this goal became the first significant step towards that end.
It seemed like forever for this race to roll around. I kept losing track of it in my mind and didn’t even realize it was so soon until last week. As I drove to the race today on one solid day of rest it hit me that I didn’t want to lose this opportunity to run sub 70 by wimping out today but instead nail it and move on to new and harder goals. I needed a game plan to make sure I finished in sub 70. I decided to run the first 5 miles as a progression from 7:25 down to 7:00 and then run the last 5 miles progressively faster down from there, finishing the last mile with a 6:35 pace.
I got to the race and made sure I warmed up, and took my obligatory 3 shits.
So my race plan sounded good but when the race started a 7:25 pace felt pedestrian. I was having problems going slower than 7:10. The first mile was slightly downhill. I ran it in 6:50. The second mile had a little climb but I run around hills near my house on the Mesa trail all the time so it didn’t feel hard. I ran it in 7:09. Third mile 6:53, I broke my first sweat. The fourth mile involved a downhill to the turn around by the boat ramp and little climb out that area back to the bike trail. I knew it was important not to dog it on this mile and the next ones. I ran it in 7:00 flat. Now the course went onto the bike trail and the true concentration started for me. I focused on staying strong in miles 5-8 along the lake, not letting my pace fall off despite the ice and higher winds to slow things down a bit. Mile 5-6:59, 6-7:08 (really windy), 7 was 6:59, I started to pick people off who were slowing down. Mile 8-6:51, I was starting to smell the finish line. Mile 9-6:49, Mile 10 I ran in 6:27 for a finishing time of 1:09:06, a 6:56 overall pace.
Goal met, I am really happy! I finished 40th out of over 400 10 mile runners. I am especially proud of the negative split for the second 1/2 of the race. I felt great in this race overall, looking around a lot, and I especially had positive mental chatter the last 2 miles, really relaxing myself for the faster miles. So what is the goal for 10milers next year? I have a number in my head. Have to think about it first to make sure it is reasonable. :)
