So, in brief, last weekend’s 10km race went far better than planned. I expected to run a time and pace similar to previous races in recent weeks and had even penciled in a target time of around 41.00 to 41.30. Needless to say, I was absolutely gob smacked to finish in 40.13 and win the ladies race again, although I’m pretty certain that Anne and Joanna were both hot on my heels throughout the run!
A flatter course along the river was in my favour and with the first 6-7km feeling comfortable at around 3.55km pace, I honestly believed that maybe, just maybe, I could dip under 40 minutes for the first time in about 4 or 5 years.
For some reason, I’d felt quite relaxed and fairly confident about this race, and yet I struggled mentally whilst racing and the kilometer markers that usually came swift and fast seemed to go on forever. The legs started to feel heavy in the last 3k – probably a result of the recent marathon training - and I found my pace slowing to around 4.10 pace with the sub 40 finish becoming extremely tight. I managed to keep a decent pace going but with about 400m to go, I only had around a minute to spare - even when racing on the track and doing a flat out 400m sprint, I only ever managed 64 seconds PB - so it really was going to be tight, and I missed out by a mere 14 seconds. I never expected to run that quick so I certainly wasn’t disappointed, and to win once again and to be 2nd overall was an added bonus.
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| Top 3 ladies - Del, Anne and Joanna :o) |
All in all, this was another superb race organized by Calgary MEC, and with the glorious sunshine and warmer temperatures (it was a balmy +10 degrees when we started at 9am!), 230+ people turned out to race.
I really enjoy these MEC races and although I may miss the next one due to other racing plans, I’ll certainly be out there again as soon as possible, and I WILL go sub 40 at some point this year – come hell or high water!
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