Wash U Invite Distance Carnival 10,000 m: Having some crazy in you goes a long way towards accomplishing your goals

The short crazy:
I raced 25 laps around a track at a time that I am usually in bed, unattached in a large collegiate meet, for the sake of a fast, accurate 10K with competition!  I came away with a new 10K PR of 37:09, and an 8th place finish in a field of 41 entrants who were just over half my age.  My 1600 m splits were 5:59, 5:54, 5:56, 5:57, 5:57, 5:57 (every lap was 1:28-1:30, most were 1:29), then a final 400 m lap of 1:26.  While I would have loved to have dipped into the 36s, I guess I am not quite there because I don't know what I could've done to find those 10 extra seconds in this one, but you bet I will do some more work and try again!

Official results are here.

I'm in blue passing on the straight as a smart track racer would

The long crazy:
The 10K has always been a tricky distance for me to navigate!  I haven't raced as many 10Ks as I have half marathons or 5Ks, or even full marathons, and I feel like I still have a lot to learn about it.  It's such a different pace zone than a half or a 5K; fast but not too fast.  When I first set my sights on breaking 40:00 in the 10K, it seemed to take me forever to get there; then the same thing happened when I set my sights on breaking 39:00.  My previous PR of 38:43 was run in the last 10K I did, on a hilly course in Arkansas on Labor Day 2016 in heat and humidity, and the number of times I subsequently ran faster unofficially in longer races and tempo runs was becoming quite laughable -- a total of at least 6, including 2 half marathons.  Since I'd never broken 38:00 officially or even been close, I figured why not try to break 37:00 this season, hah.  After struggling to find any fast certified 10K courses where I would for sure have competition and that were within a 3 hour drive, I decided that I wanted to run a 10,000 m on the track in a collegiate meet.  Then finding a collegiate meet with a 10,000 m was also no easy task, but I eventually found three (Wash U Invite in St. Louis, KT Woodman in Wichita, and KU Relays in Lawrence), and selected Wash U because the date worked the best with my other spring race plans.

The downside to this whole plan was that the race started at 9:30 p.m.!  Although, to be fair, when I initially put it on my schedule I expected it to begin between 7:30-8:00 p.m.; then on the finalized schedule that went out a few days before the meet it was bumped back due to having more heats of the 5K than originally planned, and due to putting the mens 10K before the womens instead of after as initially scheduled (apparently no one wants to stay around and watch the 10Ks so they put them at the end).  I usually go to bed at 9:00 p.m., and I run all of my hard workouts in the morning, so I was unsure about the late gun time.  I also am never sure what to do all day prior to an evening race, and to some degree I feel like the whole day is wasted because I'm mainly sitting around thinking about the race.  I am never sure how active/inactive to be, and I also worry about eating either too much or too little.  I felt like I hit a good routine before a 5:00 p.m. 5K I did in the fall, but this one being 4.5 hours later meant an additional meal and 4.5 more hours to fill! 

I did a super easy 2 mile shake out run on Friday morning before a big breakfast.  I took the day off work, after initially only scheduling a half day off but then deciding if I was driving 3 hours to race 25 laps on the track at 9:30 p.m. against girls half my age, I might as well use 4 more hours of vacation time to eliminate any possible work stress for the day (note: this did not work 100%, as I got phone calls and emails marked "not urgent" from my team, after asking them to only contact me with urgent matters...[sigh]).  But on the other hand, I did put on sweats after my run and mostly laid around until Albani got home from school and we left for St. Louis.  I also made a list of what I was going to eat for the day and at what times; not that I necessarily knew that it was the correct plan, but it felt better having some plan over none -- and now I'm glad I did it because it hit that fine line of enough but not too much, and I will follow it exactly before any future late races!

When I checked in, the officials asked what college I was with, and I about died; later my thought was "The University of Old Enough to be Your Mother", but at the time my response was "I'm unattached."  When I started my warm-up, I forgot about the late hour and did what I always do.  As the men's 10,000 was finishing and the start time loomed, I looked around at all the young girls doing strides and drills across the infield, and simultaneously wondered what I'd gotten myself into and felt ready to go make this PR attempt happen!  I felt confident that, baring disaster, I would PR, but I wasn't sure if that would mean 36:50 or 37:50.

There were 32 girls in my heat (those with seed times over 40:00 got to run on Saturday morning, which I was so jealous of), and we lined up on two different starting lines to spread out.  You can't see the second line in the photo below, but they were farther up and had to run the first curve in lanes 5-8 before cutting in.  We were lined up and also given numbers based on our seed times going in; I was 9th based on my estimated performance from my longer distance race times, so was 9th over on the starting line.

Start

The gun went off, and most girls on my line got out quick and then we merged with the girls who'd started at the other line, many of whom also got out quick.  My #1 goal at that point was to NOT get out quick, and I soon realized that I was towards the back in the pack and also boxed in.  I glanced at my 200 m split to ensure I wasn't going out too slowly, and I was exactly where I wanted to be at 0:45.  I passed a few people on the straight between the 300 and 400 m marks.  I was aiming for a first 1600 m. of 6:00, so when I came through the first 400 m in 90 I was perfect.

Throughout the first 6 laps, I passed a lot of girls who went out too fast as they settled into pace.  The pack also spread out, which was a relief because I hate being boxed in and also wanted to stick to the inside of lane 1 as much as possible.  My laps were all 89-90, and I came through my first 1600 m in 5:59.  The pace felt easy at that point, and I was pretty excited that I could run under 6:00 for a 1600 m and not be breathing hard!  I kept my gaze straight ahead, maintained laser focus, and aimed to pass on the straights and not the curves as I moved up in the field.  After about 6 laps I settled in behind two girls, the ones in front in the photo below wearing red and green.  I kept my eyes on them and also tried to use the taller as a wind block on the back stretch when I could feel the wind in my face.  I came through the second 1600 m in 5:54, with my laps all 88-89.  The girl in green was named Sara also, so it was almost as if I had a cheering squad in her coach and team during the time I ran right behind her!

Probably around lap 5

I stayed with the two girls through the third 1600 m. (5:56) and the 5K mark, with all of my laps consistent.  The scoreboard display showed the time of day; I wished it had showed the race time so I would have gotten my 5K split, but I estimated it at 18:34 from my splits.  I manually lapped my 1600 m splits on my watch so I couldn't look at my total time without switching screens, which I didn't want to mess with.  I can't remember exactly when I passed the two girls, but I did it on a straight sometime around mile 4 when they began slowing.  I didn't want to go around them, because it put me running alone, but I also didn't want to stay and slow down (they went on to finish in 37:25 and beyond, so I needed to go).  By that point, I was also lapping girls, and I was right on my goal pace and cranking out 89 second laps like it was my job.  My 4th 1600 m. was 5:57.

Running solo

I told myself to stay right where I was at pace-wise, and my 88-90 second laps kept flowing, but they were getting significantly harder, and I also missed having someone to run right on.  I was passing women, but most of the time I didn't know if I was lapping them or catching them.  I tried to pass on the straights as much as I could, but had to swing wide on the turns several times to avoid slowing down.  I never had any idea what place I was in; in addition to the lapping situation it was also difficult to track my competitors because there weren't that many distinguishing features among them -- they were all young girls wearing singlets and spandex!  Normally in a race you can mark when you pass the tall guy, or the girl in the visor, the high school boy or grey haired gentleman, etc...but in my straight ahead focus it seemed almost like everyone in this race was the same, with most uniforms even being some combination of black, white, red, and/or green.  The only position I knew for sure was the leader, because she lapped me -- when this first occurred I thought she was someone passing me and thought I should try to stay with her, but she was running significantly faster and then I heard the announcer announce her position and put 2 and 2 together...she went on to break 35 and set a new stadium record - wow!

My 5th 1600 m. was 5:57, and the race was getting really hard!  I told myself, "Only 5 more laps, you can stay under 6:00 for only 5 short laps; you finished a marathon with a 6:10 mile after all!"  I wasn't completely confident in my ability to keep it under 6:00, and the shorter but still long race that is the 10K was such a different feeling than the half or full marathon.  Dipping under 6:00 for 6.2 miles is so different than running 13.1 at 6:12!  It's amazing what a difference 14 seconds in pace makes.

Probably with 5-6 laps to go

I didn't think I was going to die, but I worried slightly that I was going to finish with a 6:05ish mile.  But I pushed with all I had and stayed in my 89 lap rhythm.  My 6th 1600 m was 5:57, and I sure welcomed the bell lap!  I knew only 400 m stood between me and my PR!  At some point during the final mile, I passed a girl who stayed fairly close behind me.  I didn't realize that I hadn't pulled out more until she came up beside me with about 150 m to go.  My initial thought in my haze of fatigue was, "I don't care, place doesn't matter" and I was going to let her go.  Then I saw a second girl trying to come around both of us in lane 3.  My initial thought was quickly replaced with, "Nope!  I am doing whatever it takes to beat them!" and I sprinted with all I had through the finish.  The photo below was taken maybe 10 meters before the line, and I edged them by 0.2 and 0.4 seconds, respectively.  How on earth I keep out-sprinting 20-something girls who have more speed than me is beyond me (I guarantee they would beat me in any track workout; same with my recent 12K), but I am crediting marathon training stamina and marathon grit!  Looking back on the situation it's also somewhat humorous -- all that fighting just for 8th place (and at the time I thought I was farther back than that)!  But I scored 1 point for team unattached, haha!

Final push

I stopped my watch at 37:09 and simultaneously celebrated and resisted the urge to drop to the ground at the finish line (several girls did, so there would have been no shame!).  The whole experience was almost surreal, under the bright stadium lights.  This was one of the first 10Ks I felt that I executed really, really well (my previous 10K PR was also run well, but it being on a hilly course in the summer didn't do me any favors on my time or allow a mile split comparison there).  I was really proud of my consistent splits, as I ran 24 laps all between 88-90, then my final lap in 86.  My 5Ks were pretty much identical:  18:34 and 18:35.  It's difficult for me to believe that I averaged under 6:00 pace (5:58.7 to be exact!) for 6.2 miles...in my mind when I stop and think about it, I can't actually run 1 mile under 6:00, nor can I run 5Ks in the 18s. 

Before the race, I had my sights on gunning for a 36:5X, but I was 100% satisfied with my 37:09, mainly because I ran so evenly and intelligently, and what I did on this track was truly my max on that day.  A 36:58 is 5:57 pace, and in this race I made the mistake of counting 1600 m splits as mile splits, but really they are a tad shorter (about 2 seconds at the pace I was doing).  I was thinking I needed to average 5:57 for my 1600 splits (which I did!), but really I would have needed to average 5:55 per 1600, and I didn't realize this until after the fact.  I think this was a blessing in disguise though, because I think the pace I did was perfect for me that day.  I was close enough that I know I can get under 37 with a little more work and maybe changing some other factors.  My coach mentioned that all of the turns on the track put additional stress on your body, which I never thought about before -- which is also why he doesn't have me run much track work; I always thought that was just because I race on the road so should train on the road.  A straight road course could make the difference, or maybe a track 10K where I didn't swing wide multiple times to lap people.  Perhaps also racing at a "normal" time instead of after my bedtime!  I almost laughed when I saw the clock on the score board reading after 10:00 during the race.  "What was I thinking?!"

I loved racing on the track though!  I've already started looking for a 5,000 m I can run on it before the end of the season.  Why not do some crazy things, right?

Results

Did you know that a 10K is exactly 6.21 miles?! Shocked & amazed that my Garmin was exactly on on the track

1600 m splits

It's amazing to think about, but long ago I planned that I'd run my first collegiate 10,000 m in the year 2000 at age 19; God planned that I'd do it in 2017 with Jon and Albani in the stands.  As always, His plans are better!

The race was the start to a fun family weekend in St Louis!  We also went to the Gateway Arch (although the elevators to the top were closed for renovations) and the amazing St Louis Zoo.  Here are some pictures from our adventures!  Did I mention that I got less than 2 hours of sleep on Friday night?!  I pretty much knew that was what I'd be in for after a late race, but let me tell you how exhausted I was at the end of the day Saturday!  I also ran an easy recovery run at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday morning (after finishing Friday's cool-down at 10:45 p.m.!), and let me tell you that was not the smartest idea I've ever had -- but it was still better than trying to do it after 9:00 p.m. on Saturday, which was when we got home and would have been the only other option!

I love watching them together!

Gateway Arch

Monkeys

Seeing how the sea lions feel

Elephants, kind of

Walk under Sea Lion Sound (my favorite area!)

This is exactly how we all felt at the end of the day; at least we were hydrated!

I found symbolism in our hotel room number - 2:44:59 or bust!

ALSO, big shout outs to:

• My training partner Missy who ran a PR half marathon of 1:26:31 on a tough course in Bentonville on April 1 -- that PR is going down as soon as she runs a course that is not all uphill for the final 2 miles, though!
• My friend Liz who ran awesome at the Aquarium Run half on April 1 and who is just getting started with her best distance times!
• Another friend also named Liz who was a big part of my inspiration to try a college meet, as she has rocked several without hesitation!
• My friend Casey who told me about the Wash U Invite and encouraged me to get out of my comfort zone and run in a college meet. 
• My friends Jamie and Amy who will both toe the line at the Boston Marathon in less than 2 weeks, after working super hard this training block (i.e., big PRs coming!).

I am so blessed to know so many amazing women!