Apr 1, 2007 5:48 PM
Cohassett Race By The Sea 10k RR
Today was the 31st Cohassett "Race By The Sea" 10k. Unlike yesterday's 6k I ran down in Brockton with only about 40 runners, the Cohassett race has nearly 1000 runners. It was a beautiful day with temps in the 50's and mostly sunny skies, and it's a beautiful course showcasing some spectacular homes and seacoast views.
My hope was to be able to hold a 7:45 pace for the race, but soon after going out I realized this wasn't going to happen. After racing yesterday my legs felt tired. Still, I held the pace for the first 3 miles (7:47, 7:37, 7:49) hoping things would start to feel better, but the 4th mile brought some rolling hills and I felt so bad I was actually contemplating DNF'ing. Two things stopped me. First was that my wife was running behind me and I knew if she saw me stopped she'd stop too, and I didn't want to be responsible for her DNF. The second was the ignominy of walking in to the finish if I were to quit. So I pressed on and backed off my pace to try to recover a bit. The 4th mile came in at 8:19 and I felt like death every step of it.
I tried to pick it p to an 8:00 pace for the last couple of miles, and managed 7:58 and 7:56. I still felt terrible. Instead of kicking it up a notch at 5 miles I just held on to my pace. At the very end when I saw the FINISH LINE banner across the road I did kick and sprint for the banner, only to discover when I got there that the finish was actually 50 or 60 yards beyond the banner. Cruelty!
I haven't seen the official time yet but it looked like 49:30 on the clock when I crossed the line, and my watch shows 49:25 from when I actually crossed the start line, so I did manage to set a new PR. Two races in two days with two PR's. That's pretty darned cool! I do think I'll be taking tomorrow as a rest day, though. I'm whipped.
DW fought the good fight against herself. She's a tough athlete but sometimes she's her own worst enemy. After going out faster than intended she decided she'd blown it and slowed down too much. Still, she came in in 59:30, and she's only beaten an hour in the 10k once or twice before.
You can forget the fashion report as there's nothing fashionable about me when I run.
------------------
Allen Freeman
email
www.allenf.com[/URL" target="_blank">
My hope was to be able to hold a 7:45 pace for the race, but soon after going out I realized this wasn't going to happen. After racing yesterday my legs felt tired. Still, I held the pace for the first 3 miles (7:47, 7:37, 7:49) hoping things would start to feel better, but the 4th mile brought some rolling hills and I felt so bad I was actually contemplating DNF'ing. Two things stopped me. First was that my wife was running behind me and I knew if she saw me stopped she'd stop too, and I didn't want to be responsible for her DNF. The second was the ignominy of walking in to the finish if I were to quit. So I pressed on and backed off my pace to try to recover a bit. The 4th mile came in at 8:19 and I felt like death every step of it.
I tried to pick it p to an 8:00 pace for the last couple of miles, and managed 7:58 and 7:56. I still felt terrible. Instead of kicking it up a notch at 5 miles I just held on to my pace. At the very end when I saw the FINISH LINE banner across the road I did kick and sprint for the banner, only to discover when I got there that the finish was actually 50 or 60 yards beyond the banner. Cruelty!
I haven't seen the official time yet but it looked like 49:30 on the clock when I crossed the line, and my watch shows 49:25 from when I actually crossed the start line, so I did manage to set a new PR. Two races in two days with two PR's. That's pretty darned cool! I do think I'll be taking tomorrow as a rest day, though. I'm whipped.
DW fought the good fight against herself. She's a tough athlete but sometimes she's her own worst enemy. After going out faster than intended she decided she'd blown it and slowed down too much. Still, she came in in 59:30, and she's only beaten an hour in the 10k once or twice before.
You can forget the fashion report as there's nothing fashionable about me when I run.
------------------
Allen Freeman
www.allenf.com[/URL" target="_blank">
But if he did run, I might have less time to run (children are still young).
