NORTHERN LAKES 30K RACE REPORT

Well, that didn't go as planned. The goal was to make 6:50 pace feel as easy as possible. After running 6:35 pace for 13.1 miles on a very windy day two weeks ago, I didn't think that'd be very difficult. Maybe that was my mistake. I ended up running 6:58 pace and the last 10K was anything but easy.

I thought things were going well through about mile 12, but looking back, I was working too hard. Luckily, the guy in front of me was hurting worse than me and I was able to spend miles 12-15 trying to catch him. The original plan was to pick it up at mile 15, but that went out the window and I was just trying to hang on.

I guess the good news is that I finished 6th overall (out of 112 people) and won my age-group (out of 21). Results can be found HERE.

Afterwards Jared ask the simple yet compelling question; "So what do you take away from this?" Ideally, I'd like to have cruised through 30K and gained more momentum before Grandma's. I have to keep in mind that I just completed two 2-week blocks of big mileage with only a 2-day mini-break in between. I think struggling for 30K will also make me a little more converative at Grandma's, at least for the first half of the race. And I learned that the Brooks Green Silence aren't enough of a shoe for me for 26.2. I think I'll switch to the Launch and play it safe.

One of my strengths when it comes to running is my sense of pacing and my ability to run a consistent pace. With that said, it's very frustrating when I start seeing splits that are all over the place. I don't ask much from a race, but accurate mile markers are near the top of the list. Especially for a race the bills itself as a final tune-up for Grandma's. This was the one time where I wish I had a Garmin. For comic relief, here are my splits;

7:05
6:24
7:00
6:19
7:08
6:38
7:10
7:00
13:49
13:50
7:07
7:01
7:11
7:11
4:52 (last .65)

I passed 10 miles at exactly 3-hour marathon pace, but all I could think was "who knows if that's even accurate." And even though the miles seemed more consistent for the last 8 miles or so, I kept expecting to see a 6:20 thrown in.

Normally I don't provide a quote of the day with my race reports, but I heard these lyrics during yesterday's dance recital and they seemed very appropriate;

"That's life, that's what all the people say.
You're riding high in April,
Shot down in May
But I know I'm gonna change that tune,
When I'm back on top, back on top in June." - Frank Sinatra