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November 07, 2006

Almond Bowl 2006 Race Report

Almond Bowl Race Report
November 5, 2006

My pre-race routine was per my usual - toast with peanut butter around 6:30 AM, bananna at 7:00, couple of cups of coffee. Got to the Bidwell Park plenty early, had a GU about 45 minutes before the start. Did some light stretching, some walking, and a few short runs to try to get my race pace firmly implanted in my head.

Watching the 5K race take off was incredible - I very seldom get to see the start of a race (as I'm always in the race). Seeing the 100's of runners jockeying for position on the narrow south park roadway was pretty exciting.

Our start was 20 minutes later, just enough time for one last bathroom stop and a couple of quick pace runs. My big quandry for the day was whether to carry some water with me or not - I decided to carry the disposable water bottle I was drinking from - at least for a mile or two.

The start was really exciting - with the huge amount of runners, there was a tremendous amount of energy being radiated from the group. After the countdown, the gun went off and away we went. I kept telling myself to keep my pace under control - but even being close to the front I had a lot of slower runners that were driving me crazy - so I ended up cross-countrying it to get around them.

First mile went really well - just a little fast, at 7:18, it was a little too quick for my pace. Slowed down to a 7:35 for the second mile, then the third mile got a little tougher to keep my pace, and it slipped to a 7:57. Next couple of miles clicked by with all my splits in the 7:50+/- range

I ended up ditching the bottle about mile 2 in one of the roadside garbage cans.

Miles 2 thru 6 went really well - no real issues or problems. I tried to "kick" a little bit the last 1/2 mile or so, but without anyone pushing me, I really struggled to increase my pace. Other that struggling to hold my pace, this was probably the most uneventful race I've ever done.

Even with the uneventful nature of this race, it was by far the best I have ever ran a 10K. My plan going into the race was to try to hold 7 minute, 30 second miles across all 6.2 miles. Last year I did this same race, but it was a straight six mile course - and finished it in 48 minutes, 48 seconds. This year they added 0.2 miles, and I finished it 40 seconds quicker.

While I was no where near placing in my age group, this was a huge personal best for me - dropping my pace of 8 minutes and 8 seconds per mile last year to 7 minutes and 46 seconds per mile. This gives me hope that even after 4 years of pretty consistent running, I have not yet peaked - even though I just turned 46 years old. Maybe those visions of clicking off 6 minute miles are not entirely a fantasy.....

This also tells me that my current program - of weights (leg strength) and high intensity treadmill work (along with the usual swimming and biking) is helping improve my ability to run faster - So I will keep doing it. My next planned race is the Almond Blossom in February - hopefully my training program will place me on the winners podium for that race again next year.

Race Results:
Run - 10k
Total Time = 48m 8s
Overall Rank = 84/289
Age Group = 45-50
Age Group Rank = 9/14

Get all the Race Results here

By the way, the winner of the 10K was a Chico State Runner by the name of Patrick Boivin - who ran the 6.2 miles in an incredible 31 minutes and 29 seconds - a blistering pace of 5 minutes, 5 seconds per mile.... WOW!!.

Posted by Dennis at November 7, 2006 06:57 AM

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Comments

Posted by: Patrick Boivin at November 14, 2006 01:05 AM

Posted by: Dennis at November 14, 2006 09:14 PM

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