Today felt good. It felt good to race again... it felt good to get another P.R... it felt good to redeem myself after last years horrible outing. The 10 mile race has always been one of my favorite disciplines. It's not to short... it's not to long... it's just about right. That's why it was so disappointing to run so miserably last year. Of course, part of last years poor performance was of my own doing. Don't get me wrong... I was in shape for it. In fact, last years Waunafest Run was my last true hard workout before I ran the Paavo Nurmi Marathon in Hurley, WI two weeks later. Leading up to last year's Waunafest Run, I had gotten in two solid 20 mile training runs in the previous weeks. They weren't as fast and easy as this years training runs, but they were solid... I should have been ready. It should have been a good measuring stick to see where I was fitness wise leading up to doing the marathon in Hurley... but it wasn't... and it wasn't because I was stupid the eve before the race. The night before the race last year, I went to a going away party for one of the many people who have left this grand tv station I work at. Normally, I wouldn't have stayed out too late but for whatever reason, I decided to stay out til 1am and have a couple beers in the process. With having a race the next morning, my body didn't really appreciate and adapt well to staying out late, having a couple of drinks, and getting up early. It was as if my body was saying, "After all the hard training you put me through, this is how you treat me the night before a race?" Yeah, I grant you it wasn't the smartest thing to do, but i did it of my own volition. The thing that made it doubly worse last year was that it wasn't an ideal morning to run a race. It was very sunny and extremely warm... some added punishment for my stupidity. Needless to say, I struggled through last years race. I finished in a time of a little over an hour and twenty minutes, which averaged out to something like an 8:03 per mile pace. Pretty pathetic when you think about it. Heck, I don't even run that slow on my ten mile training runs anymore.
Today was a different story, though. Today I went into the Waunfest Run feeling confident, super fit and race tested. More importantly though, I went in rested and not a drop of beer to be found in my system, unlike last year's debacle. The weather was even nice this time around. It was still very sunny out like last year, but it was a lot cooler out and a lot more tolerable. Being that it was an important race for me this morning, I wanted to make sure my legs were sufficiently warmed up before the race, so I even ran a couple of easy miles before the start. By the time cannon sounded (and it is a cannon they use) to start the race and subsequently scare the crap out of me, I was ready to go. The race started out as good as it possibly could. For the first five miles or so, my legs felt very strong and fluid. I was averaging about 6:30 per mile and it wasn't even putting a strain on my body... it was effortless. The second half of the race was a little different story. The second half is very hilly, and today a good portion of the hills had a decent headwind that I had to deal with. Even though I laboured a bit through this part and felt like I was slowing down a touch, I still crossed the finish line in 1:04:49, a new P.R. (personal record) for the 10 mile distance. That time averaged out to 6:29 per mile. That's nothing to sneeze at. I also finished the race 37th out of 349 runners and was fourth in my age group. Also not too bad. The main thing, though, was my time. I had beaten last years pathetic effort by 16 minutes. I think I got my redemption, and got it in a big way. Although I was excited for my new P.R., I was a little bit skeptical of the time because my GPS watch had the course measured a couple tenths short of 10 miles. That dumbfounded me a bit because it was the exact same course as last year, and last year it seemed to measure out ok. After talking with my brother Pete and my good friend Dave, they both convinced me that I shouldn't worry about it. Who knows, maybe my watch was off. Plus, this race has been around 30 years... you would think they would be able to know how to measure an accurate course in that time. So you know what... I'm taking this P.R. (my fourth one of the year) and not looking back. I earned it.
Warm up before race: 2 miles > 16:40
Today's race: 10 miles > 1:04:49 > 6:29 pace
Miles this week: 40.7
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