What a Difference a Day Makes

Today was the Healthy Kidney 10k, a race I have been targeting. In fact last week I made wild predictions of a PR.

My brilliant plan was to take the day before the race off, therefore starting the race "fresh", as opposed to last weekend, when I did a long run the day before the race.

So how did it work? Actually, pretty well. I was ahead of PR pace from the get go, and felt strong throughout the race. There was a sudden but brief rain storm during mile 2-3, and I was pretty thoroughly drenched, but the temperature was perfect, so the rain didn't slow me down at all.

OK, I have to admit that the photo on the left is not from this morning. It's actually from last weekend (photo by Flyer Photographer Bob Cowin) . But the look of confidence in the photo matches this week's race better than the day it was taken. 

In fact, the truth is that I spotted Bob (the photographer) that day, and mustered up the best pose I could. I regretted it immediately though, when I felt like I had pulled something in my back. For a  moment I thought my race was over, since it hurt to breathe, and I needed all the air I could get. Fortunately, the pain passed pretty quickly and I was able to go on. Next time I see Bob with his camera, I'll just smile, or maybe wink. I'll save the arm pumps for after the race.

Getting back to today's race, I finished with a satisfying 23 second PR. Afterwards, I saw a bunch of Flyers many of whom had PRs. In particular, the bloggers seemed to be on a roll, as The Laminator, jb24 and (reportedly) Trakmaniac all PRed. I just goes to show you -- want to run faster? Start a blog. 

The morning Flyers also made a great showing. There were too many successes to mention them all, but I have to single out CB, who finished fourth in her age group, and led the Flyers women to a first place age group finish. 

Trakmaniac and GW, who organize the Flyer Marathon Training Program, gave me a copy of their brilliant booklet with this year's schedule, including tons of organized long runs. They have really done an amazing job.  

Splits from today:

6:39

6:42

6:49

7:01 (all uphill)

6:44

6:47

1:21 (last 0.2)

42:10 official time (42:06 according to my watch....)