But I'm creeping up on it.
Today's 10K was 1:00:41 at the Oxford Day 10K on Maryland's Eastern Shore. 5K split was 30:02. Beautiful weather for running - mid-50s and partly cloudy.
It's a conspiracy! I guess I'll have to run at least one more 10K and 5K each in my lifetime to hit those 60/30 minute benchmarks! THEN I can retire from running for good!
Still, my previous 10K PR was from this race last year (not exactly the same course) in 1:03:17, so it was a pretty darned good running day for me, all in all. I ran the whole race without looking at my Garmin once, just as an experiment, but I don't think it helped me, to tell the truth. I had a higher average heart rate in my last half marathon (174, vs. 170 today). I think I do better when I check my pace and heart rate periodically during the race, rather than just pacing by perceived effort. Although my pace was quite consistent during the race (except for Mile 3 which included a brief walk at a water stop), I think I could have pushed slightly harder with this HR information:
Mile 1: 9:34, HR 160 bpm
Mile 2: 9:34, HR 170 bpm
Mile 3: 10:09, HR 169 bpm
Mile 4: 9:39, HR 172 bpm
Mile 5: 9:46, HR 173 bpm
Mile 6: 9:26, HR 175 bpm
Mile 6.28: 2:39 (9:32 mpm pace), HR 178 bpm
I was 69th/92 runners, I think. Picked up a big honkin' trophy for 1st place Clydesdale Filly, too! I was the only one who entered the division, but hey! You have to enter to win!!
If my birthday were 2 months earlier, I could have taken a 2nd place age group award, but instead I have to wait to age up into the 50-death age group.
I love small town races! Very fun to see lots of friends out on the course today, including the Dave and Chuck Comedy Team (both of whom had great races too)!! Plus we all enjoyed the traditional Oxford Day post-race pancake breakfast this year again. Yum!
