This was a 10K I ran in Pittsburgh with Dave and Jeff Haushalter. Things went almost as well as I would have liked. Here's what I thought of it in 1995:

The race started at 9:30am and we got up around 7:45am. It was nice to get a good night's sleep to try to make up for the previous night's long car ride. I felt pretty refreshed and not too tired. I ate half a Power Bar, drank some water and took three ibuprofen caplets. When we got outside I was surprised to see it was a sunny and clear morning. There wasn't too much wind and didn't feel that cold. But I had on lot's of sweats, so it night have been worse than I thought.

We drove to the race and headed to the seeded runner's area in front of the start. This was my first time as an elite runner and I was pretty excited about it. I was disappointed that they just asked us if we were seeded and then let us in without checking our runner's numbers. There was a group of about a dozen Kenyan's hanging out and warming up. There was water and Gatorade and plenty of port-o-potties with no lines! It was a deluxe setup. There was a place to drop off a bag of you sweats to be taken to the finish where we could pick them up.

We left the area and did a mile warm up lap around the park where the race started. I felt pretty good and my ankle was loosening up. When I first got up it was really tight and very sore. But as time went by it felt better. When we got back to the starting area I saw the 12,000 people huddled behind the fences at the end of the elite runner's area. It was nice to be on the other side of the fence for once. We stretched and took off our warm-ups. I tightened my ankle wrap and then put on my racing flats. Then I did a couple of striders and some high knees and butt kicks to warm up. There were a lot of small thin fast looking people there.

At 9:15am the wheel chair racer's took off. Shortly thereafter we all got into position. They opened things up for the rest of the runners and we got ready. I was looking to break 36:00, Dave wanted to run in the 31:00's and Jeff said he just wanted to finish. So I started with Jeff and thought I might be able to beat him.

The gun went off and we took it out hard. The first quarter was down hill and I cruised. I left Jeff behind, but saw Dave quickly moving away from me. Then the up hill started. I stayed with a fast pace and kept up with most of the people around me. Dave said that the fist mile would be on of the slowest and he was right. It was mostly up hill until the very end when we turned a corner and started going down. My first mile split was 5:53. Not horrible, but not as fast as I had hoped. I wasn't worried though since it was uphill.

Now the down-hills began and I pressed. The runners thinned and I kept pace with the group around me. A few people passed by, but I passed about an equal number. The pace was fast, but the downhill made it easy. The second mile was a 5:39 and my split was 11:32. So my pace was down to around 5:46 per mile which was what I had expected. My pace at the CoRec 8K was 5:45, so I figured I should be able to run about as fast here. Though there were no hard up-hills at the 8K.

Mile three was a little flatter as we were running more into the heart of town. My split was around 17:27. There was about five seconds difference between my watch and the race clocks. But it was still pretty fast and I wasn't too unhappy. I couldn't do the math though to see that my last mile was only 5:55 and my pace was 5:49. At the 5K mark my watch read 18:05. I was both happy and distressed. I knew I had just set a PR for 5K (my previous best was in Champaign in 1993, a 18:16), but I knew that I was on pace for only a 36:10. But I took heart that I might be able to get a negative split with the down-hills.

Mile four was up and down and winding. It wasn't too bad and I was holding my place in the race. Usually by now I would have been slowing down and getting passed by people who started at an easy pace and were finishing stronger, while I worked to hold on to my pace. The time clocks had vanished and were replaced by people calling out the splits. I passed mile four in around 23:12 according to my watch, but at around 23:08 according the the guy calling the time.

Now I could see the up hill mile between the forth and fifth mile markers. It was long and straight and a definite up grade. I took it a little easier and got passed by about three people. I was thinking I was fading and the uphill would kill me and I should be conservative. Plus while I knew I had less than two miles to go, I wasn't sure what that really meant and how hard I could push. This is were I screwed up my strategy. I took it too easy and ran a 6:05 mile. On my watch it was 29:17 when I passed the fifth mile marker, and a little less according to the guy calling the time.

It looked like my sub-36:00 was out of the question with that let down. Plus I didn't pick it up soon enough when we started going back down the hill. The group in front of me was pulling away. But in the back of my mind I thought all I had to do was run a 6:00 1.2 miles and I was still in business. In fact I had almost 45 seconds to play with. Of course somewhere in another part of my mind I knew that that translated to a 5:00 per mile pace which I probably couldn't do. Still I pressed. Jeff had told me about the last mile and showed me most of it. The last 0.2 miles were still unknown, but I had a good feel for mile six.

The group ahead of me was still pulling away, so I started pushing to catch up. My right ankle hurt with each pounding step down the hill, but not so bad that it made me want to quit. Slowly but surely I caught up the the group. With about half a mile left I was within ten yards of the last guy in the group. As I caught him and started to pass he sped up. I kept pushing even as he passed me. Then I caught him. He pushed and passed, then I caught him again. At the bottom of the hill he faded and I pressed on to the next guy.

I decided I wanted to pass at least one more runner even if he passed me after that. So I pressed a little and caught the next guy in the group, which was pretty dispersed by this point. I expected him to push past me like the guy before, but he didn't. We rounded a corner and I saw the six mile point and the clock that read 35:06. My last mile had been a 5:49. I had 54 seconds to run 0.2 miles.

The runner's around me weren't kicking with tremendous vigor, so I pushed harder and passed about six of them in the final straightaway. The finish clock had come into view and I saw it ticking off 35:57, 58, 59 and I knew I wasn't going to make it. Crossing the finish line my watch read 36:13.57, and I didn't see what the finish clock read, probably 36:10. So my pace was 5:50.58 per mile and I ran an 18:08.57 second 5K, my second fastest ever. Pretty even splits and I had a very strong kick. But I think this means I should have pressed harder earlier.

Mile five up the hill was what cost me the sub-36:00. If I had kept my pace I could have made it. But it was tough and I wimped out a little. A little smart running and more concentration during the first and fifth mile and I might have been able to break 36:00. At the very least I now have a real PR for 10K that I know wasn't due to a short course. At most I feel pretty good going into Chicago Marathon. There are a lot of people who say the best marathon runners are people who have moved up from 10K's and haven't run themselves out yet. Alberto Salazar is a prime example. Yeah, that's it, me and Alberto are in the same class.

Dave had finished in the top 50 with a time of around 31:15. I was very surprised to see Jeff with Dave waiting for me. He said he had passed me on the hill during the first mile. I didn't see him and was always looking for him. He ran a 33:50, just a little out of my league. We went to the elite running area and got our bags and hung out next to the Kenyans. Then we did a three mile coold down and headed back to our room.

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