View Workout (Liam Albrittain)

Return to Log

CMLXII

October 10, 2015 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Weather: Low 60s, sunny

Comments:
Some unsolicited advice from Anthony helped ease my mind: "Run because you like to run." Considering some other variables, that this is my first healthy race and my first 8k, for which I had not tapered at all, I'd say things went rather well today. I woke up at seven as per Pete's suggestion about being awake for a little a while before we left. But a fitful, 45-minute nap on the bus did away with any feeling of wakefulness I had. Luckily, however, we had plenty of time to warmup for the 11am race, so the drowsiness wore off. The flat, grass course with a hard packed, wooded section provided some relief as well. Standing on the starting line, 20 seconds before the race, I urgently, said "Wait!" as if to the starter himself, "Where's Jay?" It turned out he had re-injured his achilles during the warmup. Wrapping my head more and more around the 8k distance, I knew I would have to go out patiently, but apparently that meant 5:27; during the second mile--nearly identical to the first, I overcompensated by running a 5:53; beyond that I don't have any other splits, but did make a decent effort to increase the pace in third mile moving into the woods, catching up to Nick and Kahrs, and running in a pack with them for a few minutes. A steep hill--the only one on the course--did not set anybody up well for a kick during the last kilometer, but at least only one person passed me during that section. Although the fatigue just felt like a different type of fatigue from finishing a 5k, there is no doubt in my mind that I need to finish the race harder. Fun, and yet imperfect.

Next week, I will approach the first part of the race the same, but at the three mile mark, I will absolutely have to bear down much more--none of these adjectives for the first 3 miles like, "controlled," "smooth," or "tempo" should apply. At the end of the day, it has to be a RACE.