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It’s not very likely I can gain anymore fitness in the two weeks leading up to the Bolder Boulder. But I would very much like to gain some speed. My 8 minute pace in the Colorado Marathon still feels fast to me, but not for a 10K. Odds are, I’m not going to run a much faster pace. I think what I can do in this short training window is to allow my legs to discover speed.
It’s not about training. I am working in some tempo runs and 100 meter strides in the grass after my runs, that’s simply to show my legs what speed feels like. Sometimes your legs have to be shown how it’s done. It would take weeks, if not months, for tempo runs to improve my fitness. I just need to get my legs out of their routine, their 8 minute pace rut, and feeling the vibes of a 7:30 minute pace.
I’m not sure at what pace my lactate threshold is. I want to think somewhere in the 7 minute range. This will dictate just how much under an 8 minute pace I’ll be able to run. I know that I can’t hold a 7 minute pace for a full mile. I’ve recently tried. I just ran the first half of a marathon below an 8 minute pace. Somewhere between 7:20 and 7:40 might be doable. Ten years ago, I managed a 7:11 pace and placed 4th for my age. My 3:31 marathon matched my times from ten years ago. Maybe this 10K will too?
It’s also likely my lactate threshold begins at 9 minutes. I start to feel like I’m running fast at that pace. That doesn’t mean I can’t hold a 7 minute pace for awhile. It means I should warm up and start out slow. Take what the course gives me, which is that downslope at High Street.
The trick will be to warm up before the race start. That’s a bit difficult sometimes with a bunch of waves starting ahead of me but I’ll do something. Jumping Jacks if I have to. That will allow me to start out at a 7:45 pace without going into oxygen debt. Warming up does quite literally that, it raises the muscle temperature. It increases blood flow to working muscles, it speeds oxygen delivery, it improves running economy, activates the nervous system, and reduces the oxygen deficit in the first few minutes. Warming up allows you to start out faster.
It’ll take a 7:30 pace to place top 3 and that’s the goal. A smart strategy would be to go out at a 7:45 to 8 minute pace the first mile and then try to improve on that. The elites and anyone racing typically start slow and run their fastest pace on mile 5. That leg starts at the high point of the course, where aptly-named High Street crosses 13th Street and runs through downtown. It’s a fast mile. Maybe, if I’m racing well, I can rip off a 7 minute flat pace and then hold on for the finish.
My goal is to start out at a 7:45 pace for miles 1 and 2. Then drop it to 7:30 for miles 3 and 4. I have confidence in that first goal. The 2nd goal might be delusional, but it’s where I can position myself for a podium finish. Goal 3 is to run mile 5 at a 7:15 pace and then just hang on for mile 6, maybe 7:30 to 7:45. All miles under an 8 minute pace. That’s my race plan. Overly aggressive but I was taken to task for underestimating my Colorado Marathon pace. No one was more surprised than me by that.
I’ll have to be racing those last two miles, but that’s what’s fun about this course if you run it like I just described. It’s a 10K that’s also a 2-mile race. You don’t do anything too strenuous the first 4 miles and then have fun racing through downtown and up into Folsom Stadium. It’s a kick.
This is probably narcissistic but I love having a part of my life where I just turned back the clock ten years. And I like that it’s something physical. It’s not my thinning hair but it’s something I can control. I take what the course gives me. I’d love to match my BB10K time from ten years ago.
A Runner's Story 
Oh I found this all so fascinating! I recently started running again, and my husband and I plan to run a 10k together (my first) this upcoming fall. Loved reading about your running goals!!
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Go for it Ed !Sent from my iPhone
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Enjoy the race. They don’t seem to do as many 10k’s now as they used to; it’s either 5k “fun runs” or marathons and halves. Probably has something to do with permitting and shutting down streets. But it is a great distance, less anaerobic than a 5k, but just borderline if you train for it.
Speaking of training, for those of us who might perhaps also enjoy running like we did ten years ago, give us a post sometime about your weekday training. You mention your weight training and long weekend training runs, but are you running during the week? Do you avoid pavement (which I’m much more sensitive to now in my decrepitude)? Other than losing weight, does your dietary regime focus on anything in particular? Just curious. It’s not like I’m going to give up beer to run faster.
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Thanks George. This is the only 10K I’ve run in a long time. I’d like to run the Capitol 10K again. What’s hard for me is that it takes me 2 to 3 miles to warm up.
I run Mon-Wed-Fri with strength training Tue-Thur. I often only get time to run one day during the weekend because Karen and I drive an hour up to the mountains often for an hour-long hike. This weekend I am painting the kitchen but squeezed off 8 miles yesterday on a hilly trail. I only run trails.
I’ve put my weight watchers diet into maintenance mode which gives me more points per day. And true to form, my weight has remained steady in the 2 weeks since the marathon. My belly could stand to lose another 5 or 10 pounds, but I feel really good at 165. I think the biggest difference in my diet, other than more controlled portions, is that I’m eating much more fruit than typical and less carbs. I’ve decided I like pineapple.
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First, I’d never run the Capitol 10k–too damn many people. It’s cool, it’s an event, but TOO DAMN MANY PEOPLE. Anyway, thanks for the details. I don’t think I’m going to be able to run like I ran 10 years ago, but since I’m older than you I only have to run like I did six years ago–and I don’t think that’s gonna happen, either. Sixty-five. That was the magic age for me, when the shit just started to hurt a lot more and keep on hurting. Well, I do a lot of stuff, and perhaps if I concentrated on running, the running would hurt less, although we’re not blessed with the nearby trails you Coloradoans are. Texans support fully the American concrete industry–the more, the better, apparently. As for fruit, I eat more than most monkeys but have tried lately to increase my protein intake because it was becoming clear that my body was consuming itself due to not eating all day. I think we both grew up athletically back when the prescribed diet was carbs, and more carbs. I eat a shitload of rice and pasta and carbonated hops, but just can’t get myself to eat a slab of meat like my dad raised me to. I just need to eat more, and more often. Perhaps scale back substituting beer for solid food when I don’t have time to eat? Ok, now that’s just crazy talk.
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Beer will never hurt you, but you know that already. I thought I was a healthy meat eater, but it’s starting to grow old without a few carbs to go along with it. Beef has to be lean so no ribeyes for me. Eating a lot of tuna and salmon.
I question your math.
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