Running With Jack

It was a cold -2 C/28F when I woke up this morning (Saturday). Luckily my 10K race, the Forchheim New Year’s Run was first at 2 p.m. and it was supposed to warm up through the day. By lunchtime when I drove to Forchheim it was up to 3C/37F and the sun was starting to peek out from behind the clouds. After finding a parking place, I collected my start number and chatted with a couple guys from my running club that were running today. I also kept an eye out for a couple coworkers that said they were running today.

About 20 minutes before the race I peeled the outside layer of clothes off and took a 10 minute jog around the town, then made my way to the starting line. I didn’t see my running club friends or my coworkers, so found a place in the middle of the pack. It looked like there were around 5-600 people running the race.

My goal today was to break my course record of 52:04 which I set last year. As this was almost 5 ½ minutes slower than my best time for a 10K, I figured I wouldn’t have too much trouble, despite not having done any speed training for several months.

When the starting pistol went off I let the crowd carry me forward until I could break free of the crowd. I passed the first kilometer marker in 4:55 (7:55/M pace) and the second in another 4:47 minutes (7:42/M pace). From here I stopped looking at my watch and just concentrated on trying to maintain a smooth pace as best I could. I did look at my watch again at the 5K point, and noticed I was at around 24:30.

I kept pushing on and by the 7-8K point I could feel myself slowing down some. I tried to relax and stretch out my gait a little. The time seemed to stand still as I fought to keep the pace up. I was relieved to finally see the 9K point, but I also knew from last year there was a short and steep hill climb right after this. As I started up the hill the woman in front of me came to a dead stop and started walked, I just about flew over the top of her (she was a shorty). I powered my way up the small incline and tried my best to fall back onto pace. Down, the last street, around a corner, another 1 minute stretch around the last corner and a quick sprint to the finish line. I lost a second or two because I got trapped behind someone in the finish chute, but I still finished in 49:52, well ahead of my goal!

After catching my breath I drank a cup of hot tea and ate a soft sweet pretzel that were offered to the finishers and finally found my coworkers. After chatting awhile I made my way over to the nearby school for a shower then again joined my friends before heading home. All in all a great way to finish off a race year!

Happy New Year Everyone!