I
was not nervous for this race, but I was very excited to race. This is
one of my favorite fall races. I ran it for the first time in 2004 and
had dreamed of winning this thing someday. Last year I won. This year my
goal was to defend my title, as there have only been 3 guys in 31 year
history of the race to win it multiple times…and they have all done it
back to back years. I honestly was not sure of my fitness going into
this race, but coach and I decided if I could run 33:00-33:10, it would
be a good day.
This
race is a point to point race. You check in at the finish and they bus
you to the start. I picked up my packet about 90 minutes before the
start of the race. You have to stand in line by last name to pick up
your bib. My last name starts with a “W” and all of the people around me
were picking up numbers in the 500-600s. I tell them my last name and
the lady says, “Oh, you’re the random #1 in with all these high numbers.
You must have been waiting on your computer at midnight to sign up as
soon as it opened.” I got a good laugh out of that.
 |
| Such a low number! |
My
Garmin 310xt was being a pain in my butt, and would not turn on. I
tried doing a soft reset and it still would not show anything besides
the normal Garmin starting screen. It was fully charged. After messing
with it for a while I decided to ditch the Garmin, because I would
rather focus on something I can control, rather that something I
couldn’t. There would be clocks on the course, so I would be able to
figure out where I am based on that.
As
I finished my warm up and put on my Brooks t7 racing flats, I noticed
Bryan Glass was also racing. For those of you who don’t know who Bryan
Glass is, he is the 2013 USA Masters 15k Champ, along with the now 10x
winner of Canal Connection, and course record holder, & masters course record holder. I knew I would not
win the race, but I knew a fast time was definitely possible! I had to
remind myself that this race was supposed to be about running smart and
fast, not about winning.
The race went by pretty quickly. The first mile was 5:11 and there were 4 of us within a couple seconds of each other. I
knew I had gotten out quicker than I wanted to, but there is a bit of a
downhill in the first mile, so I wasn’t worried that I got out a tad
fast. Shortly after mile 1 we were down to 3. I decided to let the 2
other guys go, because I really wanted to run fast and didn’t want to
risk blowing up between 5-8k and suffering the last 2k home. I came
through 2 miles in 10:25, perfectly relaxed. At this point
I just said, “Hey Coree, you’re running great. 10:25 is over a minute
slower than your 2 mile PR. Just stay relaxed and it will be a good
say.” I could see the other guys up there, so I had motivation to keep
running. I came through the 3 mile in 15:36. At this point I was no
longer worried about pace; I just wanted to run a strong last half of
the race I knew I was on pace to PR unless something big happened.
 |
| I was pretty happy to make the final turn! |
From
mile 3-4 the gap started to get pretty big and I wondered if I was
slowing down, or they were speeding up. I made the decision to back off
the pace a little just to be safe. I ended up coming
through 4 miles in 21:01. After doing some quick math in my head I was
positive I could PR. I knew the guys were already 30 seconds or more
ahead. At this point I really wasn’t hurting like I was expecting to be,
so I picked it back up. My 5 mile split was 26:20. I told myself,
“drive with the knees, keep the hips high, focus.” This
was the hardest mile of the race, because this is where I finally lost
sight of the leaders—there are a few turns in the last part of the race. I
kept plugging along, and say 31:30 for 6 miles. At this point I knew I
could go farther into the hurt box and pull off a nice PR. I closed the
last .2 in :74 to finish in 32:44. My 10k PR was 33:17 from last year,
on this same course, so I was very excited!
 |
| Lookin' pretty strong on my way to the finish! |
Mile splits:
5:11 – 5:11
5:15 — 10:25
5:11 — 15:36
5:25 — 21:01
5:19 — 26:20
5:10 — 31:30
:74 — 32:44
So,
what do I take away from this? Well, I think I ran a smart race. I knew
I could not win, but a fast time would be possible. Instead of going
with the leaders and seeing how long I could hang on, I decided to pull
back and run something I felt was more manageable. Did I negative split?
No. But I honestly feel this is the best possible race I could have run
for the day. I feel I did a good job of running off feel and managing
my pace to set myself up for a good race. The overall win would have
been nice, but a huge PR is even better!
I
have had a lot of people ask me what my training was like leading into
this race and how I had such a breakthrough day. Honestly, we have not
done anything different or special for this race. After Branson we
pretty much went into “off season” mode. I have been running almost
the same as I have been all year, but without the workouts. A lot of easy
days—some long, some short, but nothing too intense. I’ve been biking.
I’ve been swimming. So for me to run sub 33 for the first time, I am
thrilled.
Next
up? Litchfield Route 66 Half Marathon on Nov 9. I’m pretty excited to
see what I can do in my first open half marathon. Once again, the goal is just to
run smart. Hope to see some of y’all out there!
Well, thanks for reading. If you have any questions, ask away! Train hard and stay safe out there!
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