GoSpring Trail 10k

Looks like I'm excited. I'm really more apprehensive. Photo credit Jamison Swift. 

Once again, I was standing at the start line of a race, with my legs still somewhat shot from the week before. Once again, this was the idea.

This time, though, I was on familiar ground. While I wouldn't say I know the Battle Creek trails like the back of my hand yet, I run them fairly often, and know their character if nothing else. The primary aspects of that character are 1) double track XC ski trails and 2) lots of short, steep uphills and downhills.

As always, I had a few goals for this race. I always want to negative split, and it rarely happens, particularly in trail races. This time,  I had an A goal of running splits of around 7 minutes or a bit under. My B goal was to finish in under 45 minutes (not generally a tall order for 10k for me, but this course creeps up on you). And, as always, my C goal was to finish.  As it turns out, I did all three, finishing in just under 43 minutes, at 6:54 pace.

My warmup jogs let me know that my legs were not exactly fresh. I'd done a typical amount of running the week leading up to this one, including hills and surges with a fair number of miles thrown in. I had also done a strength workout on Thursday. Not the best way to prep for a race, but I was hoping it was a good way to get the most training benefit out of it.

As is typical in Minnesota races (or so I've noticed) nobody wanted to start out at the front, but as the countdown started, a pack moved up and I got swept up in the lead group. I stuck with them for, oh, 400 meters before realizing that probably wasn't a good idea and I let them go. I let the chase pack catch me up, and proceeded to chat my way up the first (and as it turns out biggest) hill of the 5k loop.

On the second mile, I swapped the lead in the chase group with a couple other runners, usually losing ground on the uphill and gaining it back as I recklessly through myself into the downhills and coasted the flats (I've gotten to the point where I can call 6:30s "coasting!"). But as we entered the third mile and the biggest downhill of the course, I left them behind for the last time.

I made a mistake here: I had anticipated that the course would be the same as the course for the 5 and 10k races that take place in October. In those, there had been a huge, steep hill around mile 3. They changed the course this time, leaving that hill out. Had I known, I might have gone harder on the uphills. But given the later stages of this race, I think it's a good thing I assumed the hill was still coming.

Cruising down a nicely woodchipped hill. Photo credit Jamison Swift

I rolled through the lap at a tiny bit over 21 minutes, right where I was ideally hoping to be. The 5k runners gave a solid cheer as I passed by the start line (thanks!), and even better, I could see the runner in front of me.  He must have dropped the pace a lot to come back to me, so I thought I could focus on reeling him in for the remainder of the race.

My pace lagged a bit in the second mile of the second lap, but the guy in front of me was still visible for the most part. I was, however, beginning to feel the race in my legs. Keeping the tempo up started to be a struggle, and I occasionally glanced over my shoulder to see if anybody was catching up.

Nobody was.

Entering the final mile, I was hurting, breathing hard. But I still thought I could catch the runner in front of me. I focused again on reeling him in, letting that pull me through the last section.

I think, though, that I must have been breathing loudly by this point, because he resisted all my efforts to close the remaining 8 second difference. I came in at 42:50 for 7th place over all, and 3rd in my age group.

All in all, another solid, early season race for me. I think these short (ish) races are helping my mental toughness. In my opinion, the 10k is one of the most difficult race distances from a mental standpoint.  It's got nearly the speed of a 5k, but double the distance. All in all, a great test.