If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
It was the best of races, it was the worst of races.
At 9am this morning, Mac and I ran the West Linn, Oregon “Up the Lazy River 10k” race together. Going in, we both knew he would run at a faster pace than I would. His goal was to finish in 55 minutes; mine was to finish in an hour.
Here’s our course. Click “markers” at the bottom of the map to see milepoints:
(As a side note, this route is close my stomping grounds. But I live across the river, not far from Risley Park. Although it’s only a couple miles from my house to the starting point of this race, it takes me 25 minutes to drive there.)
The weather was cold and misty: about 13 degrees centigrade with periodic showers. We warmed up by walking around the parking lot. I complained that I was overhydrated, and had been taking potty breaks every half an hour all morning.
But when the race started, all of that was forgotten. We clustered at the starting line — faster runners in front — and jumped to it at the word “go”. For the first half mile, runners were closely bunched and there was plenty of passing. Mac sprinted ahead of me, while I eased into a pace close to 9:20. I knew that in order to beat an hour, I had to average 9:40 per mile.
Ten minutes into the race, I passed Mackenzie going the other direction as I approached the only turnaround point. He was going strong. But I was already beginning to struggle. From the start, I felt a little nauseated, and I couldn’t shake that feeling until the very end of the race.
.jpg "Click to open a larger version in a new window")
I finished the first mile in 9:23, falling in a few paces behind a couple of women who were chatting up a storm. I envied them. My heart rate was too high (about 175bpm or around 90%max) and my breathing labored — I couldn’t have chatted if I wanted. I followed these women for the second mile, which I completed in 9:22. But in the third mile, they began to pull away from me.
The third mile really sucked, actually. It was a fairly flat mile, and in my mind, I had planned to aim for about nine minutes on this leg. I knew it was a great place to build some time before approaching the big hill. But my nausea had increased, and I was finding it difficult to breathe. Instead of a 9:00 pace, I finished mile three in 9:42. Still, I felt like I was doing well.
When I tested the course last week, I made it to the base of the big hill (about 3.3 miles into the run) at about 35:30. Today I made it in about 32:00, exactly my goal. I figured that this time would allow me to finish in an hour. But that was only if I could run the half-mile hill instead of walking it. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
Last week, I ran 75% of the hill and walked 25% of the hill. Today those ratios were reversed. Mile four took me 11:34 to complete. After four miles, I had run for 40:01. You don’t have to be a math whiz to realize that this pace places a runner at one hour and two minutes for a 10k race. Still, I had hopes that I could make up some time on the fifth mile, which was another long, flat stretch. I completed that section of the course in 9:31.
And here my troubles began.
“There’s a stealth hill in this race,” I told Mac last week.
“What’s a stealth hill?” he asked.
“It’s a hill you don’t expect to be there,” I said, explaining my made-up terminology. “It’s a long, slow climb.” In this case it was the sixth mile, which — according to my handy new GPS-enabled watch — starts at 112 feet of elevation and then finishes three-quarters of a mile later at about 224 feet of elevation.
.jpg "Click to open a larger version in a new window"){kind=small}
(”There’s no way that’s 100 feet of elevation gain,” Mac said as we eye-balled the climb after the race. “It’s more like ten.” No, actually it’s a little more than 100 feet!)
Anyhow, the stealth hill knocked me out. Yes, I was tired, but the damage was more psychological than anything. I hadn’t been expecting this hill last Monday, so it was a problem. Today I knew it was coming, and I let it get to me. “That hill wasn’t so bad,” Mac told me at the finish line. “I ran the whole way, no problem.” Not me. I walked for a quarter of a mile, as you can see from the graph below. (See how my heart rate plummets? That’s because I’m walking.)
.jpg "Click to open a larger version in a new window")
The last quarter mile of the run was fairly easy — it was on a gradual downhill grade. According to the official timer, I crossed the line in 1:02:13, good for 113th place. According to my calculations, I ran 6.25 miles in 1:02:02. I ran the first half of the course in about 29 minutes. Next year (oh yes, I’ll run this next year) my goal is to reach that point in 25 minutes.
p.s. Mac beat his target time of 55 minutes. He finished in about 53:30, but I’ll let him write about that tomorrow.
Mac
19 responses so far ↓
1 J.D. // May 26, 2008 at 11:58 am
To verify the elevation gain of the “stealth hill”, I checked Google Maps in topographic view. It shows that three-quarters of a mile goes from about 151 feet of elevation to 266 feet of elevation, a gain of 115 feet.
2 Pam // May 26, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Great job you guys!
JD - I think you should be pretty psyched with your finish time; this is a lot faster that you are used to running!
Now that you have your first race under your belt, it’s a good time to talk about pace (this is a do as I say not as I do kind of discussion, BTW). If you are aiming for 9:40 pace why did you run 9:20 for two miles? You say your heart rate is way too high at that point, so you know it is not sustainable for the long haul especially with the hills. Remember start slow - pick up the pace at the end if you have any energy left - this will help you to finish strong and hit the goals that you want. I know how hard this can be - I have major issues with pacing, too, but with your heart rate monitor you have nearly instant feedback, so use that to your advantage.
also, i am so jealous of your GPS watch. That’s like the one gadget I have ever coveted!
3 guinness416 // May 26, 2008 at 12:29 pm
I don’t have much to offer technically, but congratulations and well done!
4 Lazy Man and Health // May 26, 2008 at 12:33 pm
That’s awesome… I would have probably completed it in about three hours. I’m definitely not in running shape.
5 tylerwillis // May 26, 2008 at 1:17 pm
First race is always exciting.
What kind of technology do you have to make all those neat charts and whatnot?
6 luneray // May 26, 2008 at 1:57 pm
So that stealth hill was steeper than you thought?
Congrats on completing the race!
7 Paul J. // May 26, 2008 at 1:58 pm
I hope both your nipples came out ok
8 Paul J. // May 26, 2008 at 5:16 pm
By “both” I mean both you and Mac’s nipples were left unscathed.
9 alex // May 26, 2008 at 11:20 pm
I’m also curious what you used to make all those charts and time your splits. Is it your heart rate monitor?
10 Andrew is getting fit // May 26, 2008 at 11:21 pm
Well done. You finished and in a pretty decent time even if you had to walk a bit.
11 Sarah // May 27, 2008 at 4:31 am
Great job finishing the race! Don’t feel bad about having a tough run — that happens to everyone from time to time. It will just make finishing your next race feel that much better. Here’s my secret for having a good race: take one or two Pepto-Bismol tablets about an hour before the race. It settles your stomach right down and you will have a great run!
12 Matt Haughey // May 27, 2008 at 10:07 am
Yeow, that heart rate is insane. I’ve been closely monitoring my heart rate when cycling for the past few months and anytime I go above 165bpm, I’m bonking. But I guess cycling is a lot lighter on the heart since I get to coast every now and then.
13 Jessica // May 27, 2008 at 2:30 pm
I would love to hear a post about your GPS watch. It looks very high tech from all the charts it can make. Do you like it?
14 Susan // May 27, 2008 at 4:10 pm
You did it! Congratulations to you both! Now you both get yourselves some REST!
15 Mom // May 27, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Well done, J.D.! I think you came extremely close to your goal, and that’s great!
16 mamaw // May 28, 2008 at 7:04 am
Great job and congrats to both of you!
17 Tiffany // May 30, 2008 at 2:53 pm
The GPS that you use is really cool. I like the idea of being able to collect all that data. Number Geeks Unite!
18 Tough Sunday Morning Run // Jun 24, 2008 at 5:02 am
[...] It was a tough run–5.1 miles on hilly terrain around my house–and I was longing for the Lazy River course about 10 minutes into it! When I came home, I told Pam that I thought I was destined to be a [...]
19 Surprising Myself: Run Like the Breeze // Jun 26, 2008 at 2:48 pm
[...] month ago today, I ran my first 10k. That run was a mess and I injured myself. I’ve slowly been recovering. I’ve been [...]
Leave a Comment