Mozzer Confessionals: Newport 10K

Net Time: 39:21 (PR)
Pace: 6:20
Rank: 65/907
AG Rank: 7th

Age Grade: 68.2%

Definitely some consolation after the Jersey Marathon fiasco from last week. I can't believe it was my second race in Jersey...for the second consecutive week; LAMO! Ok, I'll take it back because the course was pretty nice with the NYC waterview backdrop in the later miles. Coming into the race I had one goal in mind and that is to hit a sub 40 for a 10K. I thought about my 10K split at Boston (40:57) and with that, it offered a glimmer of hope to break the 40 barrier. Last year, this seemed to be a tough task but with my recent performances, I believed I had some chance to hit this mark.

Surprisingly, getting to the start was very easy. Hitting the Path train and just a few stops to Pavonia, and all the runners were there. The registration was hassle free, met up with a few members from Adobo (who ran really well btw) and warmed up with them until 10 minutes before the start.

With 10Ks, I can't just slowly work my way through the course and make up for the time. As I've stated before 10Ks are tough and I just never race well in this distance. Since I tend to be a slow starter, I need to just go for it in the beginning. I was hoping to hit 6:15s and 6:20s on the first mile, but unfortunately due to my nerves, I hit a surprising 6:04. I panicked a bit and weaved through the crowd and wound up running faster that I should have. I felt like I was hitting my stride on miles 2-4. Things started to go downhill on mile 5 where my tummy cramped up a bit on the left side. I knew at this point that I need to dig deep, denounce the pain and hit under 6:45s in order to have some chance of a sub 40. With mile 5 at 6:38, I latched onto a guy from sneaker factory and basically paced with him till mile 6 at 6:39; then the rain started pouring. At that point, I knew I've earned my first sub 40 10K over a one minute PR (previously PR: 40:34).

It definitely felt great to PR in this course however, I'm not too satisfied with my mile 5/6 splits. Maybe if I held back a bit on the first 4 miles and hit around 6:15-6:20, the cramping/stitching would not have happened. What's done is done, so hopefully on my next 10K, I would try to slow it down a little. Yes it was a flat course, but I honestly prefer some hill variations in Central Park or elsewhere.

Nabbing this PR is important to just kick myself into gear after the Jersey marathon and to bounce back with some confidence for future races. On hindsight, I should stop being so critical all the time. I know I stated to just have fun at the NJ marathon, yet I still was a bit POed with the result. I think as far as anything goes, I have to keep reminding myself that bad races will come time and time again and the best one can do is to try again...harder. Which was what I did, after the Jersey marathon debacle I had to bounce right back with a 10K PR. So far with a sub 3 marathon, sub 1:30 half and now a sub 40 10K, I feel ok with my training regimen. Now, I would like to continue riding this momentum, race consistently and stay injury free.