2014 RUM RUN 10.2K RACE PREVIEW

I've been enjoying my "time off" from marathon training. Which, honestly, is not that much different than marathon training. The main difference is I won't be running above half marathon distance for my long run and feel a little less pressure to get speed work in. I'm still getting in 25+ miles though, so it's not like I'm slacking off! Marathon training will start again in about a month, so no rest for the weary!

Meanwhile, I'll be bombing two races trying to get new PRs. The Souls2Soles 5k on June 7th, and then the Rum Run this Sunday. This will be year three of the Rum Run (2012 here, 2013 here) and perhaps my last if they don't fix the course distance. It really fucking annoys me, I had another conversation with the race company on their Facebook page, and they basically said "yeah, it's long, we don't care, it works better logistically this way" yada yada yada. Well I'll love that after running my ass off to get 7:05 miles and having my average pace show up 7:14 on the official results.

Deep breath. Okay. There is a new course this year but the territory is certainly not new to me. A lot of the course actually remains unchanged, however they have removed the Durham neighborhood hills and popped us out on Durham Road almost near 99W instead. This is certainly less scenic, but it might be slightly faster. After hitting Durham there is a nice gradual downhill, followed by a quick uphill, followed by more gradual downhill. Might lend to a faster time.

Same downhill finish on Boones Ferry and then around the lake. Course is 6.35 miles long, so I'll be looking to run the best tangents I can. I was hoping the 6.35 number was because they had us running in the middle of the road, etc. No. If you go to their official Map My Run (where my course image is from) they traced the tangents very well. This is a solid 6.35 miles, no fluff to cut off.

First two miles are relatively flat. Might take the first one a tad easier just to ease into the race and then try to attack the second. The third mile is mostly uphill with a total gain of 90 feet, so not bad at all. Mile 3 to about 4.5 is a nice slow downhill, so I'll try to attack that. Then the final uphill in the race, when you turn the corner onto Boones Ferry. I've ran that before, it's not too bad, but 4.5 miles into a race pace 10k will put a new perspective on it.

So after that final 80 foot gain it's mostly downhill to the lake and then a flat finish around the lake. Like last year, I'm hoping to have something in the tank for a quick sprint around the lake. We'll see though, I'm going to be racing this one pretty hard, so if all I can do is maintain a 7:00/mile, then whatever. I have a feeling I might be cutting it close with my "A" goal though, so a sprint could be in the works.

On Monday at run group I did a 10k at near race pace. Averaged 7:21/mile. It was killer! Now, it was 75 and sunny out, so I have to take that into account. I did leave a little out there though, so that gives me hope I can PR this race.

GOALS:

"A" Goal: New 10k PR, which conveniently is under 45:00. If this course was an actual 10k, my main goal would be sub 44, but basically I'll have to run sub 44 to get a sub 45 because of the long course. I'll be thrilled with anything starting with a 44, which is 7:05/mile or less on this course.

"B" Goal: Get a new PR for this race. So 45:56 (last year's time) or less. Will be nice to know I'm still a little bit faster. Last year's course was also long at exactly 6.35 miles, so they will be comparable despite the somewhat different course.

"C" Goal: Run hard and try my best. Have fun. Maybe I blow up at mile 5 after that uphill. Who knows. There is no shame as long as I try my best.