The Lucky Leprechaun 10 Miler - Race Report

Race: Lucky Leprechaun 10-Miler

Unofficial Finish Time: 77:38 (Official time having issues showing up in website results)

Unofficial Place: 11th Overall / 86 total

We made it! The 10-miler is officially in the books, and I ended up with a result I can be really happy with. I had been shooting for sub-84 but planning to ultimately go by feel before today's race.

Well, it turned out that running with the 8-minute-mile pacer felt pretty good. So for the first 5 miles I settled in within 50-100 yards of the 1:45 half marathon pacer and got into a good rhythm. I took it easy on the gently rolling hills, resisted the urge to put in any surges, and just tried to get in 5 miles relatively comfortably, staying in contact with the 8:00 pace group. Running quicker than my planned 8:24 pace, I did not want to take a risk and blow up. "Long way to go," I kept telling myself. 

It worked. I passed halfway at just a tad slower than 8 minute pace (I think - not many mile markers out there which was actually kind of nice) and ready to see what I could do over the second half. I spent the next mile slowly closing on the pace group, partly working with another guy who was also closing the gap. After running with that group for a while (4 guys total), one of them started to pull away and I went with him. By mile 7, I was really applying gas and starting to try to pick people off. Earlier in the race, an out-and-back section had revealed that I was in 41st place, counting both half marathon and 10 mile participants, who were all running together. So every time I passed someone, I noted what my new placement was. 

Eventually, I had surged enough to put myself in no man's land around mile 8. Running into the fog, I saw a silhouette pretty far ahead and just worked on reeling him in. By this point, I was chasing 30th place. At about 8.5 or 9 miles, I passed him and made the final push for home. Considering that I averaged about 8 minute pace the first half, and 7:46 pace overall, the second half was around 7:30 pace on average. I was able to pick off a couple more people, and actually finish shortly after the winner for the half marathon. That guy was cooking. 

I'm very happy with a 77-minute finish. I know that in my fastest marathon, my first 10 miles would have been quicker than that, but I had never actually raced the 10 mile distance before. I really like it, and wish it was a more common, standard distance. Anyway, I was able to beat the 85-minute and 80-minute barriers in the same run. The long-term goal of sub-70 is closer than I expected. But every new minute is harder to shave off than the one before. I'd love to get under 75 in a fall 10-miler, and get into the low seventies next spring.

These were my training totals in the 10 weeks leading up to race day:

• Week 1 - 0 miles
• Week 2 - 1.5 miles
• Week 3 - 0 miles
• Week 4 - 0 miles
• Week 5 - 0 miles
• Week 6 - 10.7 miles
• Week 7 - 17 miles
• Week 8 - 17.2 miles
• Week 9 - 1.5 miles
• Week 10 - 3 miles

So we're looking at a grand total of 2.5 solid weeks of training. The last week in double-digit mileage before those 10 weeks was December 26 - January 2. 

On the one hand, that is pathetic.

On the other hand, it means I have a ton of room to improve. It's encouraging to see that my lifetime mileage has prepared me to be able to jump into a 10-mile race with minimal preparation. I'm not even shooting for maximal preparation at this stage, just some basic consistency. For example, I could see myself getting into a routine of...

• Sun - 0
• Mon - 1.5
• Tue - 1.5
• Wed - 3
• Thu - 1.5
• Fri - 1.5
• Sat - 8

That's a nice, simple 17 mile week, something that (as seen above) I know I can pull off. But imagine if I was able to hit 20 of these consecutively, instead of sprinkling in just two right before the race! That cumulative aerobic fitness would get me to the next level. 

Now, imagine if I started functioning at maximum capacity and making the most of my time on a daily basis - going hard on work and learning to prepare for war constantly, instead of pursuing peace itself (Si vis pacem, para bellum.) I think this would be possible...

• Sun - 0
• Mon - 1.5
• Tue - 3
• Wed - 3
• Thu - 3
• Fri - 1.5
• Sat - 10

That's 22 miles per week (I know, not a lot! I used to do 55!), including a 10 mile long run every Saturday, which is the exact distance I want to get good at. Put together enough of these on a consistent basis, throw in daily burpees, and I would be a formidable runner.

But like I said, it takes some maximum capacity work to get that consistency that is so vital to physical strength. Lord, have mercy.

Finally, I'll say that races like this get me thinking (again) about running streaks, a la Steve DeBoer. One simple way to make sure you stay consistent is to establish an unbroken standard of running at least a mile every day. That could look something like this (and let's throw in a burpee routine, too)...

• Sun - 1.5 (0)
• Mon - 1.5 (60)
• Tue - 3 (60)
• Wed - 1.5 (200)
• Thu - 3 (60)
• Fri - 1.5 (60)
• Sat - 8 (60)

Now we're running every single day, getting in 20 miles and 500 burpees every single week. That would keep me moving toward my primary athletic goals for the next few years: 10 miles under 70 minutes and a 1,000 burpee workout.

Well, if you're still reading at this point, bless your heart. See you out there!