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Written by Vince
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Tuesday, 22 July 2008 16:07 |
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I ran into a friend while at Ironman CdA. Among the MANY races he's signed up for, he's also doing Silverman this year. I've entertained the idea of doing Silverman but only up until I remember that it's hard... let me clarify that... it's HARD! Dubbed the toughest iron distance race in North America, Silverman boasts a whopping 12,000 feet of elevation gain. And while hard doesn't scare me, Silverman just doesn't seem like the kind of race that will allow me to run the run. I foresee sore quads cramping up at mile 20 and for some reason that doesn't sound appealing to me. I guess I should mention that I signed up anyway. What can I say? When I finish, I get bragging rights. And besides, after you've done iron, you have to do silver... or so they say. 
Truth be told, I'm using this is an epic day which I hope will pay future dividends. In my pursuit for a faster time, I believe a race like Silverman will create a large reserve which I can draw from in 2009. And if not, I get to hang out with my crazy friend who is doing something like 5 Ironman events along with many other halfs, olys, and whatever else floats his boat.
So how does one come off of an Ironman to start training for another? Well, I started off with the first two weeks after CdA with practically nothing... and none of it was structured. I felt recovered until week three which had 12 hours worth of structured workouts. My body began to revolt. I could hear it saying... "Hey! What the heck is going on? We're on break... right???" My reply... "Dear Body, No." But after the second structured workout week, I felt strong. My coach told me to sign up for a hilly 10K. I can barely get out of bed for a 10K... what's that about. Lacking any kind of motivation for this event, I showed up with a blasé attitude about the whole thing. And then it happened. I got around people. People who were ready to race. People who wanted to beat other people. People... who... wanted... to... beat... ME! And with the flip of the switch, I could feel the adrenaline pumping.
The Jail Break 10K is put on by the Alameda County Sheriff's Department to raise money for Special Olympics. The first part of the race runs literally around the jail. After that, it takes you up a series of switchbacks top, you run around, come back down, run through the streets and you're home free. It's a 10K... what do you expect. The starting gun never actually fired but he shouted go and we were off.
Around the jail I went settling in to a 7:00 pace. When I hit the switchbacks, I held a solid 7:15 while others started dropping off. Upon reaching the top, I decided I would pull the breaks on the descent and pull back the lost time. I did... back to a 7:00 pace. For the next few miles until the finish, I slowly pulled the time below 7:00. When I hit the finish banner, the Garmin said a 6:50 pace with 6.3 miles. Assuming Garmin is wrong and it was 6.2 miles, it's a 6:58 pace. Not too bad for a long distance runner doing a 10K in hills. I'm waiting for the confirmed results but I believe I am first in my age group and somewhere in the top 10-15 overall. Of course I consider this cherry picking on my part but whatever.
And with the completion of that 10K, I am officially recovered and I'm off to find Silver.
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 23 July 2008 04:54 |
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