Reality vs. Perception

I had a 10k race today, our annual Toys for Tots benefit. Super low entry fee, but you bring a toy along "with" as the balance of the fee. Someone always brings bikes, one for boys, one for girls. I like this race for a few reasons.... 1) it's an excuse to peruse the toy aisle of Walmart. Not having kids, and the nieces being so far away, I feel as if I need permission to look at toys. 2) It's in the cold....but not freezing frigid cold. It's also just a few weeks after the fall marathons that I've done so far, so my "residual fitness well" is still quite deep.

The first time I ran this race, I did it in 1:08:29, after my first marathon. That was a smokin' hot time for me at the time. Last year I did it again, but stupidly listened to the teeny-bopper cheerleaders who were manning one of the last corners, and ended up not doing the entire distance, so I don't count that time. This year, the race came after a rather disappointing marathon in Richmond. The unseasonably warm weather for THAT race completely trashed the main goal, and I ended up being happy I finished on my feet and healthy.

The other nice thing about this race is that it's local. I hear about people who travel for 5 and 10k races, and I sorta wonder why they do that. I mean, they're fast, easily running a 5k under 30 minutes, or a 10k in 45.... and they go out of town, or fly/drive...get a hotel room, all that. For a relatively short experience. I figure if I'm going to travel especially for a race, I'm gonna have it be a humdinger of a race. The only 5k I ever "traveled" for was a 5k in Chicago. I was already in the city for a conference and saw the signs for the race on the first day. So, I went down to the onsite registration the afternoon before the race and ran it the next day. Very cool.... very fun.

CS told me to "put out 600,000%" and to "run till you puke" (or something like that). Then, we got a bit of a better set of instructions, that involved "sandwiching" the race. That means, push for the first third, relax just a skosh for the middle third, then push HARD for the last third. I did that for my 10-miler a few months ago and it seemed to work pretty well. So, that's what I set out to do. Only..... there was this thread about pacing on kickrunners that showed up the week before the race, and it got me to thinking. So, I ended up modifying my sandwich method just a tad. I ended up finding a pace for the first mile, and when I checked my watch realized that I'd gone faster than I thought I'd gone. So, I figured it was a pace I could hold for the next mile. Turns out, it was my effort that I held, and not my pace, but it still worked out ok.

I warmed up. This is unusual. But, I'm going to have to remember to do it from now on. The concensus in the forum discussion was that warming up (especially in cold weather) is important. People who didn't do it, then started doing it, had better results. So, I tried it. I did some jogging. I did some quicker running....looking for my earband that suddenly came up missing off of my head. Never did find it.

So, the first mile is a net down hill. I started in a pack of people that were much slower than I wnted to run. For the first time ever, I felt a little hemmed in and had to work to get through/around some folks. Nothing major, but it was a new feeling. Turns out, I was passing a bunch of people in the 5k race, but it was a good thing. Hit the first mile marker thinking that I'd run slower than I wanted, but looked at the watch and saw a satisfying 9:49. Cool! At this point, I figured that the effort I was putting out was good. I knew this course, and I knew there was a hill in the second mile that was long, but not too terribly steep, so I held on. I played cat and mouse with one lady who was run/walking, and that helped me stay steady. My HR was in the high 170s this whole time, but I wasn't having too much trouble breathing, although I was breathing hard.

Second mile marker, 10:41. Nice! It was slower (by a lot) than the first mile, but the hill did slow me down enough that I noticed it while going up it. I tried to remember to keep effort the same, stride length a bit shorter, and to spit in the grass AWAY from the runners behind me. ;) Water was between 2 and 3, and I walked through the stop because I was breathing hard enough that I needed to be sure I drank the water rather than wearing it. Also, while the temperature was cold enough to make running comfortable, it was too cold to be wearing the water!

Miles 3 & 4 have just a single split time, because I couldn't see where the 3rd mile marker was. According to Map My Run, it would have been inside the cemetary, so I wonder if it just didn't get put out due to the location. These were supposed to be the "relax a skosh" miles, but I was still feeling as if I could maintain the effort level from before, so I held on. I turned the corner near mile 4 and thought that the volunteers were nice, and cute! But, I wasn't in a place where talking would be a good idea, and the right/left/right/left pattern was working for me. So, I held on. These two miles came in at 21:19. 10:40s as an average for those miles was slower, turns out, but with the same effort, I was ok with that. It did give me a bit of a boost to push harder after I passed mile 4, though. I didn't want to fall any farther behind.

Mile 5 had some rollers... and 2 girls in front of me who were talking WAY too much for me. Really, I didn't care what they were talking about, just that they were talking, and seemed to not need as much oxygen as I did. I kept getting closer to them on the downhills and flats, then they'd pull away on the up hills. I NEED TO WORK ON HILLS! I never lost sight of them, even though I never did pass them. They definitely served to keep the gas on inside of my head. Mile marker 5 came in at 10:23. So, my pace had picked up, but it felt harder. Yay!

The last 1.2 miles are a net uphill, and the steepest hill of the course. Really, rather torturous for those of us who NEED TO WORK ON HILLS, but probably not all that bad for those reading this who live in,....oh, The Alps region. There was one more water stop just after the 5 mile marker point, and I walked fast through that. Then, push push push..... I will say, that last year, the hills at the end were very painful...this year, they were just hard. I managed to keep the feeling that I was making progress, and that my effort had increased. By this time, my HR was in the low 180s and the breathing was getting harder, but not labored, nor wheezing. I was to the point where I REALLY wanted to slow down but didn't really need to. My finish split was 12:16 which comes out to about 10:13 as a pace.

Total time: 1:04:29....previous PR: 1:08:59. 4:30 better this time around.

If I compare this race to the marathon, I'm struck by the similarities and differences. I'm struck by who similar these races were in perceived effort. BOTH of them saw me working hard. I worked hard to breathe (harder in R'mond, with little success, but still hard here too)....worked harder to move my legs, worked harder to keep my head in the game. I'm also struck by how similar my HR behaved in both races. It was very high in both. The resulting pace for the marathon was VERY much slower....13:55, a 3:33 difference in results as compared to effort.

The major differences between the races are, 1) obviously the length, 2) the weather.... So, the question that will be hanging out in my head for a day or two is this.... am I just that hard-headed that truly perceived effort is the best way to run races? Because, I couldn't have run faster in the marathon...without ending up in an ambulance. But, I was able to run faster today, and my perceived effort was comparable.

I got some revenge on this distance, but there is still room for improvement. It's a confidence booster that I needed given the last event I completed. Plus, there are plenty of local opportunities to beat this time...... and shoot for sub-60 minute 10k next time!