This was another attempt at a sub-six minute pace for a 10K. Here's what I thought of it in 1995:
It was a great day and lot's of PR's and
near PR's were set by physics runners. The mile markers were screwed up, but
it was the same course as the race had be for the last five years, so the overall length should have
been accurate. My splits are probably not all correct, but here's what I
got:
| Mile | Split | Last Mile | Pace |
|---|
| 1 | 5:52 | 5:52 | 5:52 |
| 2 | 11:45 | 5:23 | 5:37.5 |
| 3 | 16:54 | 5:39 | 5:38 |
| 4 | 22:50 | 5:56 | 5:42.5 |
| 5 | 29:00 | 6:10 | 5:48 |
| 6 | 35:20 | 6:20 | 5:53.3 |
| 6.2 | 36:16.37 | | 5:51 |
So I set a PR by over a minute and broke 6:00 per mile for the race. I had
only been hoping to run 6:05's since it had been a hard week and I lifted legs
and ran 5.5 miles the day before. The mile markers were screwed up. A bit
after the three mile mark I ran past a mark on the ground that looked like
other mile markers and my watch read 18:04, which may have been more realistic.
And I know there was no way I ran a 5:23 or a 6:20 mile. But I kept running
fast and had a nice little battle with a guy between miles four and six. He
would pass me, then I'd pass him, then he'd come back and then I would.
Finally on Stadium north of the CoRec I left him behind in the hills and
started my kick. I think I finished tenth out of 77 and got third in my age
group. The guy who won the 10K ran a 17:05 and won the 5K as well. Now I feel
pretty confident going in Boston. It was a day for
running fast!
After the race I went to the Triple X with Ekkehard Gerndt and Rachel Eisenhower. I had
the fried potatoes, but they were pretty greasy. So I rested a few hours and
then ran ten more miles. My knees hurt and so I wimped out. But
I ran at an 8:00 pace most of the time, so it was a pretty decent work out and
I totalled 56 miles for the week.
Back to the Running Vita of James B. Elliott