Tuesday, December 26, 2023

35:54 10k Time Trial

Knocked out another goal time. This one isn’t just a masters PR. It’s a lifetime PR.

Family went down to Georgetown, TX, for the holidays, which is just outside of Austin and where my wife’s family lives. 

Since I’m not getting any younger and I’m in as good of shape as I’m likely to ever be in, I’m trying not to let any low altitude trips go to waste. Wanted to try to run a few good times while I was here. 

Doing a time trial the day after Xmas isn't ideal in terms of diet, sleep, etc., but this was the day that lined up best with weather and schedule. 

I went down to the local track to give a 10k a go. I think the last time I had pushed a fast 10k was the Bolder Boulder my freshman year of high school, so whatever I produced for this effort was likely to be a PR. Decided to try to go out in 5:44 miles and see where that led me. It was a struggle from the beginning. I ran the first mile in 5:47, then 5:42, 5:44, 5:45. 5:47, 5:47, then 81 to close. 25 laps. Woof. Felt like I was redlining the last 10 laps. I wasn’t sure if I was going to get there until 200 to go. HR was higher than I would have thought possible for a 10k. This one hurt.

Judging by recent times, altitude converters, and Jack Daniels pace equivalents, I thought sub-36 was going to be relatively easy. It was not. I was hanging on for dear life the last few laps, and I feel like garbage now. Either way, sub-36 had been on my radar for a while, and I got there, even though the effort was way harder than I thought it might be.