Saturday, February 04, 2006

WINTER CARNIVAL HALF - SHORT REPORT

Well, I think it was a solid effort, but not spectacular. I ended up running even splits 42:24/42:21 for 1:24:45. That's 18 seconds slower than last year. However, I think when I see the results and compare myself to other people, I'll be happy with my placing. One thing that's encouraging is that I passed 7-8 people during the 2nd half, while only 1 passed me.

I just plugged my time into the McMillan calculator and it converted my time to a 38:07 10K. Considering my last race in October was a 10K in 39:02, I'm fairly encouraged. Yes, I would have liked to have run faster (don't we always say that) than last year, but more than any other race during the year, it's like comparing apples and oranges.

Two years ago it was -10 so they shortened it to a quarter marathon. Last year it was 50 and I ran in shorts and a t-shirt. This year, after experiencing the warmest January on record, I woke up to 5 degrees with a wind chill of -7. It probably was 10 at the start. Wind conditions on this out-and-back course can make a huge difference too. This year it was hard to read the wind. At times it felt like a headwind, then a minute later it'd feel like a tailwind - even though we were running the same way. The worst was just after the 10 mile mark when I was running by myself into a strong headwind.

Like I mentioned the other day, I like to use this race as a benchmark. Having not raced for 3.5 months, I had no idea where I was at. Now I do. Back to base-building.

7 comments:

E-Speed said...

good job! even splits! Thats the way I wish I could run!

Trisaratops said...

Great race! And in those conditions, too....wow!!

Unknown said...

Nice even splits, or better yet a negative split.

Dallen said...

Any race with negative splits is a good race.

brent said...

wow thats awesome, great race. wish i could have been there (i suck).

Thomas said...

Fantastic effort on the splits. I'd say there's nothing wrong with your base this year.

Chad said...

Thanks everyone and yes Brent, you could have been there.