The Boston Diaries: Chapter 14
Another special week in the books
“Sub 60 incoming?!”
For the second time in two weeks, Derek from Strava pushed me towards a goal in my second of three tune-up runs. As week 12 came to a close, it was going after a sub-37 10k. On Friday, it was going after a sub-60 10-mile race.
Unlike two weeks ago, I had been thinking about goals ahead of the annual Early Bird race. I kicked around the idea 64 minutes — a 6:24 average across all ten miles — as well as running at a 6:20 or an even faster clip. I had also thought about trying for 59:59, especially after the success of March 25th’s run, but I’ll be honest, I didn’t know if I could do it yet. I went after a sub-37 specifically because I thought my fitness was good enough to complete the task at hand. Was I sure I could run that pace (or thereabouts) for another 3.8 miles? No, not 100% at least.
After some hemming and hawing on if it was possible, Derek added “sub 60 grades closer to 2:50 marathon too” and that was all I needed.
“Alright I’m gonna go for it” I added. Another goal in mind.
One of the coolest parts about my running journey in recent years has been meeting people just like me; those that obsess over running, those that continue to find their limits. Chasing Boston, chasing time goals, chasing distance. Whatever we hope to get from running, we’re all alike. I felt that as I walked towards the start line at Walnut Grove on Saturday.
The race had flags signifying paces. As I passed the 9:00 and 8:00 pace flags, one remained: 7:00. I was going for faster, so suddenly there I was, just a few yards away from the literal starting line. Outside of a cross country or track race in high school, I don’t know if I had ever been that close to the beginning of a race before. There were familiar faces of other guys in our running group chat. More runners were there too, their talent obvious, even before I saw them take off.
By the time I got settled in and did some last-minute stretching, the clock showed 7:28 and change. Less than two minutes until we’d start. “What are you aiming for?” I asked Blake, a runner next to me. “Sub-60,” was the answer.
I decided I’d hang out with him as long as I’d have to.
I immediately settled in with a handful of other runners. Because of Covid (as well as my booster shot), I ran both 2020 and 2021’s races virtually. While I knew my way around Zorinsky, which is where the bulk of the race took place, the exit from Walnut Grove had me flying blind on exactly where we’d be going, when we’d be turning, and even elevation change1. Much of the first mile was uphill, but my watch still showed me hitting a sub-6 pace and by the time I finished in 5:58, I was happy with my decision to go for sub-60. We were off.
Much to my surprise, the second mile was essentially one long downhill. “This is the best part of the race,” Blake shouted.
He wasn’t wrong. I handled the downhill as well as I could have hoped and by the time we leveled off for the finish of mile two — 5:37 — I had banked 25 seconds of time. The best part? My GPS seemed to be on point without a single issue. I crossed the line at two the same time it chirped at me. I was hopeful I wouldn’t have to think about that a whole lot as the race continued. I’m reminded of what Red said in THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION: Hope is a dangerous thing.
The next few miles flew on by and the runners in front of and behind me hadn’t changed at all. Two runners in front of me, including Blake, seemingly two runners right behind me, all running miles around 5:50s, or so I thought. My energy felt high, my legs felt strong, and as I crossed mile five at 29:24, my watch was only a couple hundredths of mile off. I was well on my way towards my goal.
As we approached mile six, there was a bit of shuffling. By this point, Blake was behind me, but a runner previously behind me was now ahead. I was trying to avoid looking at my watch a whole lot, instead going off a combination of feel and distance from the runner in front of me2.
As I approached a long straightaway towards mile six, I heard shouts from volunteers at a table. “Four miles left!” My watch chirped at me, indeed signifying I had six miles in the books. I looked around and didn’t spot the usual flag that marked each successive mile. “This is six?” I asked. A volunteer responded with a cheery, “yes,” and pointed a bit further up the trail.
“Oh no,” I thought.
I hit the halfway point at about 5.03. As I crossed the six mile mark officially, my watch read 6.10.
It felt like the wind got knocked out of me. I was still ahead of pace, but no longer was I close to a minute ahead of pace like I had previously thought. Instead, I had about 30 seconds to work with. Enough? Absolutely, but I suddenly knew the last four miles would be a bit harder, and a bit more stressful, than the first six.
At a certain point before the halfway point between mile six and seven, I forced myself to stop feeling sorry for myself. “Alright, let’s go,” I told myself, not wanting to see my watch showing a “6” to start my pace, but a 5. As I crossed mile seven, my watch showed 7.063. I was back in business.
As we headed east around Zorinsky, 168th Street approached. I was suddenly in very familiar territory, running this part of the trail often on Saturday (or Sunday!) long runs. The same runner was still in front of me. This was it. Less than a 5k to finish, not even 20 minutes left.
I continued to draft just a bit longer, but my pace was slowing down, so it was time to pick things up and not leave anything to chance, I passed my final runner right about 7.5 miles in.
Plans to not get passed over the final 2+ miles were dashed almost immediately, as I heard footsteps coming up behind me as we went underneath 168th. He went by me soon after, but I kept him close. I figured we had the same goal — sub-60.
I wouldn’t let him out of my sight.
We winded our way through Zorinksy, hitting mile nine near the southeast entrance of the lake. By this point, my watch again showed I was off by a tenth of a mile, but I had about six and a half minutes of buffer. I was going to do it; the only thing I wondered about was how much breathing room I’d have.
You know how I mentioned flying blind earlier? Yeah, about that. As 9.5 miles approached, I saw the worst thing a runner can see towards the end of a race — a hill. And this bad boy was steep. I made my way up, hoping I wouldn’t lose too much time, trying to figure out if it was flat from here on out or if more adventures awaited.
“Here comes the downhill!” a volunteer yelled. Music to my ears.
A quick left followed, followed by one more right, and then I heard the cheers.
I took one more peak at my watch before I looked up at the finish line. Plenty of time to reach my goal, I was able to smile as I made my way.
I spotted my dad on my left, cheering me on with so much excitement. He said something, but I couldn’t quite make it out. He said it again. “Eighth!” Suddenly I realized what he was saying. “EIGHTH?” I asked incredulously. “You’re in eighth!” he shouted back.
I screamed a hearty “LET’S GO!” He screamed back. I screamed some more. I lifted up my arms and crossed the finish line.
59:25. I finished in eighth freaking place.
The log:
Monday: 20 minutes of weightlifting + two walks totaling 3+ miles
Tuesday: 9 miles with 5 x 600 meter repeats
Wednesday: 14 miles
Thursday: 6 miles with 6 x 100 meter strides
Friday: 5 miles
Saturday: 10 mile race + 1 mile cool down
Sunday: 17 miles
Total: 62 miles
Year to date: 877.52 miles
Day 93: The gym was good but as always on the rest day, the highlight was walking Banks. And we got to do so multiple times! We’ve been on a nice run (pardon the pun) lately with getting him at least a mile almost every single day. Love getting time together, all three of us, but in particular it’s great seeing how happy he is when he gets outside this often. Made for a great morning and evening.
Day 94: Was nice to cross off another beast run as the running portion of the week got going. Woke up Tuesday feeling a tad stuffed up, and the first couple miles of this one were right into the wind. My goal for the 600s, starting after I completed the fourth mile, were two minutes each, which was faster than I aimed for in week 12. Went 1:59, 2:01, 2:03, 2:01, and 2:01. Given how I felt at the start of the day, this was pretty unexpected. All in all, nine miles, 7:34-per, with an average heart rate of 148. Absolutely lovely.
Day 95: Not lovely? The wind. Wednesday had me up to here with the wind, reminding me of a year ago at this time. How, how I ask, is it possible to have gusts last a good 20 minutes in a row? That was what I had to deal with for Wednesday’s 14, when I turned around at the halfway point. For a good 2.5 miles, it wouldn’t stop. Multiple times, I audibly yelled out to no one in particular, my disdain for what we were dealing with. I’m happy my mom wasn’t there, she wouldn’t have appreciated my language.
Yet! The run clocked in at 1:47:21 (7:40 per) and my HR averaged 149. All that wind, all that annoyance, and I was still moving well and my HR was in check. Guess it wasn’t so bad, after all.
Day 96: Kept things easy on Thursday with six miles total, doing six 100 meter strides at the start of mile four, before downshifting to easy again the rest of the way. 8:47 miles on average and a HR of 132. The most important thing? My legs were feeling fresher than expected after the previous couple days, not to mention the 18 miles on Sunday.
Day 97: The freshness continued into Friday, only needing to run five miles, again at an easy4 pace. While I succeeded — 126 HR and a 9:05 pace — it was just windy enough to have me second guessing my decision to go outside the day before a race. On the flip side, I got to wear shorts and the legs felt refreshed ahead of Saturday.
Day 98: Don’t really have a whole lot more to add to what I wrote above. Two weeks ago, I hadn’t run a sub-6 mile since high school. Over the course of 15 days, I’ve ran 6.2 and 10 miles at 5:55 and 5:56 paces, setting a new (post-high school) PR in the latter. It’s still wild to me that I’ve reached this point.
171 was the average HR and I never really felt like I was straining myself. One more tune-up “race” to go — I’m going to do a 10k in a couple weeks — but overall I’m incredibly happy with my fitness at this point.
Day 99: Decided late on Saturday that I’d keep my pace slower than normal for the long run on Sunday. You’ll often see me writing that “my HR was in check” or something similar for any run that’s 11 miles or more. For example, I wrote this above about Wednesday‘s run. These “medium/long runs” are ones where I’m supposed to keep my HR between 143 and 158 bpm. Mostly a zone two5 run, my fitness has increased to a point where I can hang out at a sub-8:00 mile pace and still be a bit below 143.
So, when I went out Sunday, my goal was to stay at 8:00-per mile the entire time, even if my HR was below that 143 bpm floor. Sure enough, my first four miles had averages of 132, 135, 138, and 141 at an 8:06 pace.
Was incredibly pleased to finish in 2:15:59 — literally a second off from a truly clean 8:00 pace — with an average HR of 143. My legs felt heavy throughout, so there was no need to put anything else through the ringer.
Incredibly, 14 weeks of training are in the books. Lincoln is 27 days away.
Can’t wait to see what I do.
Usually I look that stuff up before a race, but for whatever reason I didn’t do so for this one.
I also did a good bit of a drafting, especially throughout the first half, as the wind was just enough to cause issues.
Whether it was GPS issues with the watch or user error with me (did I take turns too wide?), this is a common occurrence in races. Thankfully this race wasn’t in a downtown area, where the buildings can cause lots of problems on race days.
For me, “easy” miles are any where my HR stays below 130 beats per minute, on average.
There are five HR zones. Zone two is what the majority of training is built on. Enough to build fitness, but not hard enough to overwork. For more on this, read my second ever newsletter.
Congrats on a great race and a sub 60. Very impressive and something to brag about. Thanks for sharing your race day story...it's funny as a runner how we all go through similar emotions and such as we push ourselves to hit goals. Love following your journey! Keep it up and Happy Running!