Last year I ran the Monday Nighter 10K on the Westside Beltline, on a 90 degree mid-June evening. I suffered mightily in the second half of that race, needing more than 65 minutes to limp across the finish line, completely baked by the heat and some ill-advised over-exertion in the middle of mile 4. When registration opened for this year's race, I quickly signed up, resolving to run a much smarter race.
In addition to pacing more wisely, I also carried a second bottle of ice water in an insulated bottle for this year's race, in addition to a bottle of Nuun on my water belt. Although I was carrying more water than anyone else that I saw, the hydration strategy worked well in last month's Memorial Day 10K, minimizing the pain and suffering of running on a hot evening.
The 5K runners, more than 600 strong, began at 6:30 pm, 20 minutes before the 10K race. I warmed up a bit during the wait, then noted the 87 deg F temperature. What a contrast from the Jackson Hole half-marathon 9 days earlier in Wyoming, at 37 deg F at the start! As the time for our 6:50 pm start approached, I walked to the starting area, but deliberately hung back. I wanted to choose my own pace from the beginning, and if all went well, have some fun passing a few people later in the race.
One of the runners noted that the 10K runners were a much smaller group, although when I checked the results we had over 250 finishers in the 10K, and as we started, it felt like a substantial group. The first mile wound through the West End neighborhood streets, at what felt like an incredibly slow pace - but my watch consistently showed a sub-10 minute / mile pace, so I very carefully avoided passing anyone that wasn't walking. Near the end of our first mile, our route momentarily joined that of the 5K runners in their last half-mile, although we were separated by a row of cones. I thought I recognized a couple of 5K runners up ahead, and thought about accelerating to catch up to them - and then thought better of that idea. There would be plenty of time to socialize after we had all finished our respective races.
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| Crossing the starting line. That's a red arrow pointing at my head, not a lightning bolt. That came later. |
We turned off to the left as the 5K runners continued straight ahead, and then made a hairpin turn onto the Westside Beltline, on a sidewalk paralleling White Street. Passing the mile 1 marker, I congratulated myself on running a conservative 9:49 - yet knowing I would need to speed up at some point if I was to finish in less than 60 minutes. I picked up the pace ever so slightly, starting to pass a few people. While I was aiming to speed up by about 15 seconds with every mile, I only managed half of that in mile 2, in 9:42. By this point I had taken a couple of sips from the Nuun bottle, and had squirted some ice water on my neck and back as well, even though I wasn't suffering from the heat, at least not yet.
On the out-and-back course, the lead 10K runner passed me about 25 minutes into my race. I recognized several of the faster runners returning, acknowledging each other and passing congratulations and/or encouragement. The elevation was definitely net downhill in the third mile, yet I sped up to only 9:32. Not to worry, my heart rate was still reasonable, and I felt fine, continuing to squirt cool water on my head, neck, and back on occasion. I noticed that the ice had completely melted in my insulated bottle.
I took a walk break and accepted a cup of Gatorade at the water station just past the mile 3 marker. We made a short loop through a park, then encountered the water station again less than half-a-mile later, where I accepted a second cup of Gatorade and took another walk break. This undoubtably slowed me down a bit, but I was determined not to over-exert myself on the return trip this year. And as we headed uphill to an overpass, I reminded myself to take it easy, shorten my steps, as it definitely was far too early to begin pushing. Nonetheless I was occasionally passing other runners taking walk breaks. That was me last year. I was quite pleased to finish mile 4 in 9:48. Although my heart rate was in the high 160's, I felt that this level of effort was sustainable for a couple more miles.
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| Elevation map (above); my pace vs. elevation (below). |
In contrast to last year, mile 5 went fairly smoothly. I was beginning to tire, but wasn't exhausted. I kept squirting water on my head - it was no longer that cool, but at least it was wet, and occasionally I drank a sip or two as well. I channelled the recent memory of snowflakes at the start of the Jackson Hole Half, and that mental trick seemed to help. I took another walk break at the last water station, right before my watch signaled the completion of mile 5, and passed several people at this stage, including a couple of people that are typically a little faster than me. 9:57 for mile 5, 48:50 elapsed.
Now it was time to begin pushing. A sub-60-minute finish was within reach if I could speed up a bit, but to cover 1.2 miles in 11 minutes, I clearly needed to run closer to a 9 minute / mile pace. The heat was beginning to bother me, but I continued to cool myself down and hydrate with the last of my Nuun as needed. The volunteers were great in this final stage, not only protecting street crossings from traffic but also encouraging us at a time when it was most needed. There was one last uphill section, which was a bit of a struggle, but after reaching the crest, I felt better and started to accelerate a bit, knowing that I had only about 1/2 mile to go, 55 minutes elapsed.
I passed a few more runners as we headed onto the flat section of the Beltline, wedged behind several industrial buildings facing White Street. Ooooh, this was beginning to hurt, everything was burning, yet the finish line had to be up ahead, even though I couldn't see the banner. I caught up to a young woman who had run just ahead of me for most of the race, managed to pass on her left, then she found a higher gear and pulled ahead. Mile 6 alert sounded, 9:39 and 58:28 elapsed, although I didn't check my watch at that moment. I'm sure that my heart rate was maxxed out by that stage. I thought about letting her go, then bore down and found a higher gear of my own, drawing even. Now a man caught up to me on my left. I thought he would accelerate away after he passed me, but I sped up a little more and seemed to keep up with him. As the finish line drew near, both runners put on a little kick. I didn't quite match their finishing speed, but I was satisfied that I really made them work for it at the end. I was delighted to cross the finish line just a few seconds before the race clock ticked over to 1 hour flat - and noted on my watch that I had finished in 59:35! Official chip time, 59:33.  |
| Note the gun times for places 105 - 108: we finished within one second of each other - very exciting! |
A few seconds after crossing the finish line, the first drops of rain hit my head. I was surprised - rain wasn't forecast until much later in the evening. But the rain started coming down harder, as I tried to jog a slow, short cooldown. I think I would have liked it more if the rain had started in the final mile or two of my race! I was already soaked with sweat so the rain didn't really matter, and may have cooled me off a bit. As I walked into the Monday Night brewery, a loud clap of thunder sounded nearby, just 10 minutes after I had finished the race. I was concerned for the dozens of runners still out on the course, although apparently everyone eventually made it to the finish line without incident.
I had tickets for a couple of free beers, but I wasn't up to drinking anything other than pure water at that moment, of which there was plenty at the finish line. That run took a lot out of me, yet it went so much better than last year''s race. I was very proud to find a good pace at the beginning of the race, and maintained that pace quite consistently over the first six miles, with a variance of only 25 seconds between mile 3 at the fastest and mile 5 at the slowest. And I still had enough energy and spirit to run the final stage at a faster pace, about 8 minute / mile. In short, I achieved nearly every one of my goals for this race, except for the stretch goal of a progression run, but wasn't disappointed given the conditions.
I didn't stay for the awards ceremony, opting instead to change into dry clothes in the car, and joined Bonnie for dinner at Atlantic Station. Later in the evening, I checked the results, and was pleasantly shocked to discover that I had placed second place in my age group! I was momentarily disappointed that I had not stayed for the award announcements! But with a 59-minute finish, I didn't think that there was a chance for an award. It turns out that the warm temperatures slowed almost everyone else as well!
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| I passed Josue after the mile 5 water stop, although didn't realize it until he said "hi" as I passed - and was pleasantly shocked, as he is generally considerably faster than me. |
