Arts Fest 10K (2006 Edition)

Subtitle: Ooops!

I haven't been running too much this season, since I've been spending so much time building up to the triathlon. So I set only a modest goal for this 10k: I just wanted to get under 50 minutes. What I wanted to do was negative-split the race, so that I would be pushing the final 5K with some fatigue, to simulate the triathlon experience. My plan was to do @25 minutes for the first half, and 24 for the second.
The race started and I was cruising along easily. I felt really good, and was happy with my pace. Then I passed the 1-mile marker, and found I had done the first mile in 7 minutes even. That's about a minute faster than I had wanted. If I was just doing a 5K, or if it wasn't quite so hot, I would have kept going as is. But I knew the second half of the course was going to be much, much warmer, and I didn't think I could keep up that pace for 5 more miles.
Even though I backed off, I ran the second mile (half of which is uphill) in 7:30. So I intentionally backup off the pace a little more for the third mile. I would have easily crushed my PR if I was only doing the 5K: I think I would have been under 22 minutes if I hadn't backed off so much.
I made the turn for the next 5K somewhere in the 23:30 range. Then it was up a gradual hill, in the sun, for the next half-mile or so. The fatigue started in, but I knew I had a long, shady downhill coming up. Another mile and a half of up and down hills in the heat were starting to take a toll. I grabbed a cup of water just after the 4-mile mark. I took a couple of sips, and then to cool off I dumped the rest over my head. Big mistake: I then had to run another mile with a soaking-wet shirt weighing me down, sticking to me. It was like adding 5 extra pounds.
That last hill about a 3/4-mile from the finish was rough, but I passed some people who were walking. Then I set my focus way down the road and just pushed. I wasn't going fast, just a little faster. The last turn never felt so good.
I finished in 29:45, or 123rd place. I'll update this post when I get the official results.

4th Fest 4K, 2006 Edition

Since this was a short, relatively flat course, I wanted to go all out for this race. That meant I had to get nice and warm before the start. So I did some stretches, my usual balancing poses (which fire up the stabilizing muscles of the lower legs), and a few wind sprints. I got to the line ready to go, and then I had to wait. There was a huge turnout for the race,over a hundred more runners from last year, and the organizers were having some trouble dealing with it. No one's fault really, these things happen, and really we got off just a few minutes late.

Nonetheless, I got a little bit tight in the wait, so I didn't get out to the start I wanted. In fact, I didn't feel like I'd really hit my stride until beyond the 1-mile mark. I was able to finish strong though: I did the last half mile in 3:13, which is pretty fast for me. And I felt like I could have kept up that pace for a while, too, although no faster.

I finished in 17:58, 88th overall. (I made it to the second page of results.) I was 10th in my age group. You can see the complete results here.