Big Sur
10.30.2006
Big Sur is the best race I have ever run. I PRed last year and surprisingly again this year. I ran in 1:28:30 which is a 6:45 min/mile pace. I had no idea I could run that. Since I'm an engineer, here's a little statistical break down of each mile
Final Stats:
Total Time: 1:28:29.66
Split Avg: 6:45 min/mi
Avg Split Diff: 04.65 s
Comparing to last year's splits, I halved my average split difference from 9.46 seconds. I've become more consistent my running it seems.
I had low expectations for this race and was hoping just to beat my time from last year. The week before I had run an extremely hard 10K at only a ~6:56 pace, so my hopes for Big Sur weren't that high. Me and a couple of other friends before the race said we were going to run this race stupid, meaning we would start out hard and see how far we could go. So we started out hard and I was with my two buddies for about the first mile. However, I dropped back soon after and got into my own rhythm while still trying to keep them in sight. I basically ran the entire race by myself, which was a tad hard mentally because there were a few times where I almost gave up. For a while I felt I was barely hanging on to my friends in front of me.
At the turn-around between mile 8 and 9 though, I was surprised that I was keeping my pace but still wary of blowing up. Although as my friends passed me at the turn-around I jokingly said "YOU'RE MINE!" I eventually caught up to them with a little under a mile to go though and didn't look back. I was a bit afraid that they were right behind me. I was running so hard the last couple of miles that I almost threw up crossing the finish line. There's probably a great picture of me crossing the finish line doubled over clutching my stomach about to vomit.
Never in a million years did I expect to PR this race, by 2 minutes at that, and run with the pace and intensity I ran. This gives me really high hopes for qualifying for Boston at Arizona in January. All I need to do is stay on track with my training and I should be good to go.
I'm heading to London for a couple weeks this Sunday. I haven't developed any excitement yet, but I'm sure as soon as I get off the plane I'll be all smiles. It'll be weird going back to a place that I once called home. There will be a certain familiarity mixed with the unknown since so much has changed since I left a tad over 15 years ago.
I found a running club with whom I can run in London. I know, I'm obsessed with running.
Posted at 15:52
| Mile | Split | Difference | Running Difference |
| 1 | 6:41.11 | -- | -- |
| 2 | 6:46.46 | +05.35 | 05.35 |
| 3 | 6:49.44 | +02.98 | 08.33 |
| 4 | 6:57.20 | +07.76 | 16.09 |
| 5 | 6:53.41 | -03.79 | 12.30 |
| 6 | 6:49.48 | -03.93 | 08.37 |
| 7 | 6:53.37 | +03.89 | 12.26 |
| 8 | 6:45.21 | -08.16 | 04.10 |
| 9 | 6:45.50 | +00.29 | 04.39 |
| 10 | 6:42.10 | -03.40 | 00.99 |
| 11 | 6:45.11 | +03.01 | 04.00 |
| 12 | 6:41.14 | -03.97 | 00.03 |
| 13.1 | 7:00.13 | +18.99 | 19.02 |
Final Stats:
Comparing to last year's splits, I halved my average split difference from 9.46 seconds. I've become more consistent my running it seems.
I had low expectations for this race and was hoping just to beat my time from last year. The week before I had run an extremely hard 10K at only a ~6:56 pace, so my hopes for Big Sur weren't that high. Me and a couple of other friends before the race said we were going to run this race stupid, meaning we would start out hard and see how far we could go. So we started out hard and I was with my two buddies for about the first mile. However, I dropped back soon after and got into my own rhythm while still trying to keep them in sight. I basically ran the entire race by myself, which was a tad hard mentally because there were a few times where I almost gave up. For a while I felt I was barely hanging on to my friends in front of me.
At the turn-around between mile 8 and 9 though, I was surprised that I was keeping my pace but still wary of blowing up. Although as my friends passed me at the turn-around I jokingly said "YOU'RE MINE!" I eventually caught up to them with a little under a mile to go though and didn't look back. I was a bit afraid that they were right behind me. I was running so hard the last couple of miles that I almost threw up crossing the finish line. There's probably a great picture of me crossing the finish line doubled over clutching my stomach about to vomit.
Never in a million years did I expect to PR this race, by 2 minutes at that, and run with the pace and intensity I ran. This gives me really high hopes for qualifying for Boston at Arizona in January. All I need to do is stay on track with my training and I should be good to go.
I'm heading to London for a couple weeks this Sunday. I haven't developed any excitement yet, but I'm sure as soon as I get off the plane I'll be all smiles. It'll be weird going back to a place that I once called home. There will be a certain familiarity mixed with the unknown since so much has changed since I left a tad over 15 years ago.
I found a running club with whom I can run in London. I know, I'm obsessed with running.
