The photo above was taken after I finished my 10K virtual race today.  I have a huge smile, because my race went really well.

Below is a ‘mile by mile’ recap of the race.  I’m including my paces and times, because I think they help illustrate how my race went.  I normally avoid all reference to times, paces and power numbers, because they are only important to me.  I typically don’t like including them, so as to avoid anyone playing the ‘comparison game’; don’t compare you numbers to anyone but your own.  With that said, here is how my race went.

Warm Up :  I did a short warm up run of about 6-7 minutes with a few ‘pick ups’.  I did this to get my heart up a little before starting my 10K ‘race’.

Mile #1 :  As mentioned in my blog last night, I was running this race all by feel.  I started to run and pressed start on my Garmin watch.  I quickly checked to see it was tracking OK, and then covered the face with a piece of duct tape.  I set off at a reasonably quick pace, but one that I felt I could hold for the whole 10K.  Based on feel, I felt I like I was running something like a 7:30/mile pace.  Mile one went by quite quickly and I felt quite good; nice and relaxed.  (Time for Mile 1 = 7:18)

Mile #2 :  This mile felt a little less comfortable than the first mile.  I had a very slight distressed feeling in my stomach, but this mile mostly felt harder, because I was now starting to get hot.  The temperature was about 65’F, but there were no clouds and I was running in an area with no shade.  (Time for Mile 2 = 7:14)

Mile #3 :  Now the feeling of discomfort was really starting to build.  I was running with a nice rhythm and my breathing was hard, but controlled My legs however were feeling a little more tired and my stomach was a little more upset. I spent this whole mile telling myself to ‘relax’.  I have discovered over time, that when the going gets tough, I tend to tense up and start ‘straining’ to keep my pace.  This doesn’t help; running relaxed actually helps me keep my pace and is less ‘painful’.   (Time for Mile 3 = 7:18)

Mile #4 :  I could really feel things start to fall apart, as I began the second half of the race.  I felt like I was slowing down and getting really tired.  This is when I focused on little things.  Stay relaxed and just get to the next corner.  Stay relaxed and focus on keeping my strides long (long strides help maintain pace).    Little by little, the ground disappeared beneath me and then my Garmin buzzed to indicate I had finished mile number 4.  I wondered how I was doing, but resisted the urge to peel away the tape and look at my watch.  (Time for Mile 4 = 7:21)

Mile #5 :  With just over two miles to go, it was time to see if I had the ability to pick up the pace.  Over and over, I told myself to stay relaxed and keep my strides long.  I told myself.. “just get through this mile and you can hang on to the end”.  This mile is mostly a blur in my memory.  I have no recollection of any stomach pain and just remember feeling relieved when I got to mile number six.  (Time for Mile 5 = 7:11).

Mile #6 :  This mile went better than the last, because I knew the race was nearly over.  I was still focused on running relaxed, but the knowledge that the pain would soon be over, helped keep me going.  By now, I was really trying to run faster; pushing to get to the end.  I could feel myself getting tense and starting to rock my head, but as soon as I noticed, I once again focused on relaxing and breathing.  I kept telling myself .. “not long now – keep pushing”  (Time for Mile 6 = 7:04)

The Finish :  The last 0.2 mile were really painful and seemed to last forever.  I used my mental trick of counting in my head. I figured that I had less than 90 seconds to run, and so I counted to 30 in my head.  Only three “30’s” to go… only two “30’s” to go… last “30”…  Before I got to 30 on that last count, my race was done.  (Pace for last 0.2 miles was 6:37 / mile).

I was done.  I knew that I had probably run my fastest ever 10K, but when I ripped off the tape and saw 44:52, I was shocked.  I honestly never thought that I would run a sub-45 minute 10K.  I later learned, that the run also included my fastest ever 5K!

My biggest lesson today was that we are capable of doing things beyond what our mind believes.  For me, the key was running totally by feel. I am convinced, that if I had looked at my watch after that first mile and had seen 7:18, I would have slowed down, because I would have believed I was running too fast.

Today was one of those really good days.  I’ll take it but my next training block starts tomorrow.  Time to get back at it, and work to try and get even stronger and faster.