Heritage 10k

Sunday, April 22nd OSF Heritage 10k Run in Rockford This past weekend I decided to drive up to Rockford, IL in order to race in 10k. I had a busy training week of high intensity and long intervals, so my body was not up to running very hard. The race was set to start at 1 oclock in the afternoon, which is a strange starting time for a race. The temperature was HOT and WINDY! This weather in the midwest sure is crazy, one day it is 30 degrees and the next it is 80! Well it was around 80 degrees, sunny, with 22 mph winds for the start of the race. While warming up, I realized that my body really didnt want to race all out. I was barely able to do a stride without getting tired. So going into the race, I decided that the best option was to start out slowly and stay with the leaders until the end and see what I had left. This was disappointing because going into the race, I really wanted to get a good feel of how it feels to start a race out fast. The Duathlon World Championships are coming up soon, and the first run is a 10k so I thought it would be a good gauge of what is to be expected. The race started, and to my surprise, nobody wanted to take it out hard. My mind and body went into race mode, and I took off. I went through the first mile in 4:49 with nobody else near me. This was a good sign becuase I did not feel that I was running very hard. After the third mile, which I went through in 15 flat, the wind picked up. The course took a turn and the wind was almost impossible to run through. This was when I started to get tired. There was no competition even close to me, which made it mentally taxing to push myself through the rest of the race. I backed off and decided that I would just finish in a decent time and save my energy for the upcoming training week. I finished the 10k in 33:04, more than a minute ahead of the next finisher. I think that with a non-windy day and a taper, I will be at 30:15 or below. This is exciting because I know that I will need to run that fast for my opening 10k at the world championships which are in 3 weeks. Its nice to see that even after being sick through the winter months and not working out for 4 straight weeks, I am back to where I should be. I just need to focus on my bike strength and this season looks to be very promising. Up next weekend is a small local triathlon in Sullivan, IL. The race is about 40 miles away from my school, which is nice because I will not have to drive very far like I usually do. I'm excited to see how my swimming is coming along, even though it is only a 400 meter swim. I plan on focusing on using the race as a quick speed workout and pushing myself on the bike to use it as a gauge on how to pace myself throughout the longer races. Check back in a few days to see how my training is going and to see the results of upcoming races! -rybread also, if you want to check it out, I was featured in the Rockford newspaper on my win at the Heritage 10k.

http://www.rrstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070423/SPORTS/104230035