This is a long over due race run report for the “Reston 10 Miler” as this took place on March 5th, 2016. The primary goal for this event was to get my legs used to a long run for the upcoming triathlon races, but not burn me out that would jeopardize races early in the season. One of my triathlon races that is scheduled in mid May will require me to run 13.1 miles after I complete the swim and bike sections.
For this race I had a good idea on what my pace should be with the previous month of doing descending runs (as planned by my Speed Sherpa coach Josh). For the past month I’ve been slowly increasing my time of descending paces that lated between 15 to 20 minutes at a time. For the Reston 10 Miler, I wanted to target 8:30 pace for the first and second “20 minutes”, 8:10 for the third “20 minutes”, then end with 7:30 for the remaining distance of the run. This would also prevent me from burning out early in the run as the course is very hilly. The plan also worked out well, as there were a few key downhill points just after mile four and mile 8.5 that aligned perfectly for the timing to increase my speed.
The pre-even atmosphere was great, and you could tell there were many well trained runners who have been doing this for many years, but also LOTS of smiling faces of first timers who were supported by their friends and/or families by participating in the fun of a long run.
Only complaint I have on myself is that I didn’t prepare for the full timeline of the run, and how much the weather would change. In the morning it was cold, so I bundled up with my sweats, thermal shirt, hat, and gloves. But after the first hour I wish I were running in shorts and begged for a way to ditch the gloves, as the combination of my body generating heat and the sun coming out to shine on everyone (as seen in the pictures) was becoming strong. Good to have these experiences to gain knowledge for my 2016 race season.
Results
- Placed 123 out of 937 runners
- Placed 23rd in the 40-44 Male
- Finished in 1:19:02 giving me an average pace of 7:54/mile (beating my goal of 1:20:00)
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