-26.2ish miles
-Fully unsupported (meaning all supplies are carried and NOT supplied)
-2 loops of the main beast course will be the race.
-A team option is available for considerable prize money (also considerable risk of DNF'ing).
-Starts at 8AM
So far my training regimen has been pretty relaxed. By relaxed I mean around 35-50 miles a week and plyometrics every other day depending on work schedule. I have been keeping the mileage light since last fall I had acquired a tibial injury on each leg. Suspecting stress fractures, the ordered MRI showed multiple signs of trauma but no current fractures. The diagnosis was the bones had healed from "trauma" and left large lumps (AKA bony islands) which caused muscle irritation. Good enough for me.
Since I don't know shit about the Ultra, I thought this would be a great place to re-cap my experience at the Yankee Homecoming 10 mile road race this Tuesday (July 31).
Yankee Homecoming 10 Miler
So this Tuesday was the Yankee Homecoming 10 miler. I was hesitant to sign up since my race schedule will be relatively busy over the next few weeks. 10 miler, Lions club Bed Race (I'll explain later), and the Amesbury Spartan Sprint all packed into two weeks . The entry fee was an incredibly reasonable $25. How could I say no? This year brought nearly 3,000 runners between two races (5k/10m). The weather could not have been better, for the 6:10PM start, cloudy and upper 60's. I decided to walk about a mile from the Coast Gard station where I work to the starting line, which served as a nice warm-up. This walk also served as a preview to all of the local elite runners from GBTC, Whirlaway, etc. who were using High street as a drag strip effortlessly sailing up and down the bike lane at a pace I couldn't hold for more than a few minutes. regardless I had my race/nutrition plan and was satisfied with it.
At the start the volunteers held up signs showing where to line up based on pace, so naturally I lined up with the "average Joes" at the 7:00min/mi mark. At the gun it took about 15-20 seconds to cross the start line. I settled into a comfortable 7:20 pace (originally planning a first mile of 7:45). Mile one went off well with the exception of a botched water stop, but who needs it in the first mile anyways? I enjoyed the nice flat stretch of High street before turning down Marlboro st. for a long downhill stretch. The two mile marker was along water street just before American Yacht club, where I watched a Club runner accept a shot before carrying on through a two mile split of 14:15 or so. Mile Three was my fastest to this point, Mainly because it was through the busiest section of Newburyport. Right on the eastern edge of the village sits U.S. Coast Guard Station Merrimack River, where I saw 5-6 uniformed Coasties from my duty section chanting "Heat Wave Dave" (a nickname that some days I'd like to escape, originating from holding a Domino's pizza delivery bag AKA "Heatwave Bag" for ransom in return for breadsticks in the 9th or10th grade...It wasn't as dramatic as it sounds and I had accomplices and promise this is the extent of my life of crime if you could call it that). A funnel of high fives and excessive use of energy resulted, but the morale of the whole thing paid off, and I was all smiles down Water st. Just before the beginning of Mile four my lovely Girlfriend somehow made her way through the most crowded section of town ( I say somehow, but I'm certain she had pushed her way through), to offer up her support as well. Approaching the longest hill on the course the mile four volunteer shouted out "25 minutes" The small pack that I was in all immediately looked at their watches, as did I and we all had a good giggle for momentarily we thought we were much faster than we actually were. Mile 4 split was closer to 28:30. The course would take us over RT. 95 towards Maudslay park (a favorite of mine for trail That section was relatively uneventful with the exception of a young boy who insisted I take water from him (I must have really looked like shit when an ten year old was insisting I hydrate). I refused the water but had to dodge him as he sprinted in front of me, running me 4-5 feet off the course into a nice set of hedges on somebodies front lawn. Lucky for me I am not going for a record here and even if I were I appreciated the amazing effort from all of the volunteers. At mile 7 is where I decided I had plenty of fuel in the tank to start separating myself from the 7-7:15 crowd. Knowing there were a few hills to come I tried to get into the sub 6:50mi. range which was surprisingly comfortable. I felt like I rode that pace to the finish line but my Garmin would later tell me otherwise. At mile nine I really felt like I could get into my 5k pace so I tried to "kick" for a whole mile, my garmin would once again prove me wrong, but it felt good! The rain started at mile 9.58 (i know cause i looked) which was once again perfect timing. I grinded out the last half mile with a couple of club runners one of which would pass me about 8 feet from the finish line where the final result was 1:10:22. I was satisfied since the goal was just to set a better pace than my last half marathon and finish sub 1:13.
This was the best adherence to a race plan I have ever been able to manage and it seemed to have paid off. I suppose the goal time was conservative but attaining it felt good so who cares? Splits were as follows:
Mile 1: 7:10
Mile 2: 7:02
Mile 3: 6:43 Thanks to some awesome encouragement
Mile 4: 7:04
Mile 5: 7:16
Mile 6: 7:18
Mile 7: 7:07
Mile 8: 6:52
Mile 9: 6:44
Mile 10:6:25
+0:45 (.09)
I will try not to be so long winded next entry. No promises.
Yankee Homecoming 10 milers results 2012
Yankee Homecoming 10 mi. map
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