Sunday, September 27, 2009

And the real answer is...

{UPDATE} Official Result: 49:45 
75 / 250 Overall
5 / 28  Age Group

[For those just tuning in, I ran the TrailBlazer 10k this morning.]

This is almost exactly an 8:00 pace, so new PR! Last years time was 52:09.

Just for comparison, my niece and nephew ran the Boulder Bolder 10k and got these times vs me:
Oscar  (age 15) 45:04.94 (7:15)  
Age graded: 41:46    (6:43)
[UPDATE: Oscar ran a 18:44 5k!]

Me     (age 53) 49:45    (8:00.7)
Age graded: 42:28    (6:50)

Ursula (age 17) 46:18.85 (7:27) 
Age graded: 44:18    (7:07) 


[Age grading scales your time based on world records for your age and sex to that of a 25 yr old male.]
So not bad, not bad at all..8)

----

It was NOT a really cool morning. Temp at the start (8:30am) was already 62, and by the finish climbing quickly toward 70's, with no breeze and bright sun.

This year I did my new trick of just chugging a small bottle of water a few minutes before the start and for a race this short, not bothering to take any water until after the finish. Saved me a few seconds mucking about at water stops.

Here's my pacing graph

Saturday, September 26, 2009

The Great Karnac....

"8:00 min/mile".

And the question was "What pace will Paul average in the Trailblazer 10k tommorrow?"

Seriously, last year I did an 8:20 pace (no timing chips so you have to time yourself if you want accuracy...they said 8:24). The prediction based on my April 8:30-pace half-marathon is 8:05. I think I can tough it out for such a short race and do sub-8:00, so I'll try for that. One concern is the expected huge turnout of 1000+ which is 2-3x last year I think. Might be crowded for the first mile or two.

To hit this pace, I plan to bang right up to an HR of 145...pushing it up to 155 by the end of the race if I want to hold my pace (due to muscle fatigue the same pace takes more aerobic output).

But compared to marathons, 10k races are simple...just put the hammer down and go.

Will it hurt? Yes it will....but it's also fun to run fast. You can't do it every day so when you do it, it's something very special.

Mercifully 10ks are short, the whole thing should be done in 49:48, give or take.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Circles around Kafka

Recently I was attending a conference in Prague. Being jet-lagged I kept waking up at the crack of dawn, so I decided to do some running before breakfast.

The streets are pretty busy where I was staying (about 4 metro stops from the old down) and I wanted to avoid having to cross a street every 30 seconds. In looking at the map, I found I was next to two large cemeteries.

This worked out well, the distance around them was about 2 miles, and I had a slight up and downhill for variety. Not the best of conditions, what with lots of old-style diesel trucks as well as new-style czechs smoking their brains out on the way to work, but hey, it worked.

I did this run 3 times (2 or 3 loops each time), and only once saw another runner. (interestingly of similar vintage to myself). Alas, he ignored me.

Eventually I learned that buried in one of the cemeteries was the grave of Franz Kafka, so I went to visit him (see photo). I didn't really know I was running circles around him every morning...

Putting on two shoes and going out the door to run is about as un-kafkaesque an activity as there is.