Tipton 10000m

I have done quite a few 10,000m races over the years and one thing has struck me more than anything.  A time of 30:00 averages out at 72secs per lap.  Of the 15 races I had done before Saturday, I had broken 30mins on two occasions and both times I had gone through 400m in 74secs.  On quite a few occasions I had targetted a sub 30min clocking, gone off at 71s or 72s and for whatever reason it didn't happen.  There might be other factors involved but what it has taught me is that 10,000m is a long way on the track and you can afford to be a second or two down through the opening lap and feel your way into the race.  It takes quite a bit of confidence to run it this way, but I think it's just a case of experience now meaning I have the confidence to run them this way.

This was the first time I have run one with the explicit intent to run the first lap outside my overall target pace.  I had said beforehand that my aim was to sneak inside 30mins again and if i could improve on my PB of 29:55 that would be a dream scenario.  I ran 14:38 for 5k last week which suggested breaking 30 was a possibility but a difficult ask.

Jean Ndayisenga was assigned the duty of pacemaking the race at 70secs per lap, and the only takers were Alex Hains and Dewi Griffiths, while Phil Nicholls was in there as a second pacemaker trying to help a few lads dip under 30mins.  My first lap was 73secs, and I was 3 from the back in a field of 15 athletes.  I stayed in this position through 800m (2:24), 1km (3:01), and 2k (5:59).  I knew at this point I was on sub 30 pace and now needed to make sure I stayed under this schedule.  The group were now in single file and I noticed some small gaps appearing within the group and decided I had to make the commitment to advance in position which may mean a slightly faster split.  I eased my way forward towards the front of the group, passing Ben Jones, the Dutch athlete Molenhuis, Chris Discombe and John Newsom, and looking ahead noticed that Alex and Dewi were not that far ahead of us now. 

Over the next few laps, we caught up with Alex and Dewi and as we passed 5k (14:54), Jean was out on his own on 70sec per lap pace doing the job he was asked to do while Phil was heading what was now a much reduced group with Alex, Dewi, Paul Marteletti, Phil Hinch, Brian Maher and myself following the pace.  Approaching 6km, I noticed Phil getting a few metres ahead and was feeling easier so assumed people were slowing.  I moved onto Phil's shoulder and encouraged him to go as far as he could.  With 8 laps to go, I only had Paul for company and was starting to feel things a little and encouraged Paul past me, just to try and change the scenery and break up the monotony of the race. 

8k was reached in 23:50 which I knew was on schedule for 29:46-29:47 and that would have been a pretty big PB but the next lap really started to bite and I found myself drifting a few yards off Paul, working to get back on terms and then the same happening again.  I knew I needed to stay in contact but just couldn't - maybe it was a momentary lapse of concentration that did it in the end but once I was on my own I was just trying to stay strong and relaxed and peg back the gap over the last 3 laps but it just didn't happen. 

Phil continued through the finish line in 29:42 but wasn't included in the results as he had no number.  Paul was officially the winner in a huge PB of 29:46, and I achieved my aim of breaking 30mins with a 29:58 clocking for 3rd.  Disappointingly, I was 2.5secs shy of my PB but given the windy conditions and the fact I'm in marathon training I'm really happy with my run.

I don't have a race planned now until Bristol Half Marathon on September 5th.  There's a possibility I might use the Leek Half Marathon as part of my Sunday run next week to get some faster sustained pace work in there.  Leek is one of the toughest half marathons in the UK with some brutal hills.  67min half marathoner Ben Gamble won last years race in 78mins.  If I do decide to do this, I'm going to have to avoid paying too much attention to splits and just try to run at marathon effort.

Keep training hard

Cheers,
Dave