the nyrr joe kleinerman 10k was my 2nd 10k ever (the first was back in april). wasn't sure what to expect in terms of pace, as i haven't been doing any longer runs lately and couldn't predict what pace i'd be able to maintain for the 6.2 miles. i approached the race with the following three goals:
1. run a 7:30 pace
2. finish in the top 20 in my age group
3. finish in 45:00
i met two of these goals. my average pace was 7:30 exactly. and i finished 17th (of 343) in my age group. i also ran negative splits and improved my pace by 24 seconds per mile over the last 10k.
to finish a 10k in 45:00 i would have had to run a bit faster than 7:30 pace. but in my mind, which also likes to think of US dollars and euros as equivalent when shopping in europe, the last 2/10 mile didn't exist. yes, had i been running an even 6 miles, a 7:30 pace would have given me a finish at 45:00 on the nose. alas, on the course those last 2/10 of a mile DID exist...
i felt, as i often do at the end of a race, that i held back too much today. i was overly concerned (because of a training book i consulted last night) about starting out too fast and losing steam at the end, so i ran slow (training pace!) for the first mile, then conservatively for miles 2 and 3, turned it up a bit in miles 4 and 5, then surged for the remaining 1.2 miles. at times during the race, i felt intermittent muscle fatigue, and my right ankle was a nuisance, but my breathing was completely relaxed, and at the end i felt like i had more to give. i may have been at 65% effort today.
my strategy in the next 10k will be to go out gangbusters and just see what happens. i want to start pushing myself to take chances. i feel strangely disappointed with today's race, and i think it's because i knew i could run faster but didn't allow it. so i'll flip things next time, and be a complete rebel daredevil. just to see what happens.
i also need to make long runs a priority. now that i have guaranteed entry to the 2010 nyc marathon, this is even more important.
