Lakes of the Meadow 10K

35:38, 1st Place Overall / Course Record

2-25-06; Miami, Florida (8:00AM)
SPLIITS- 5:27, 11:09 (5:42), 16:55 (5:45), 23:02 (6:07), 28:47 (5:44), 34:38 (5:50), 1:00

* Decided to jump in a very local (5 min drive) 10K in order to attempt my first workout, post-Marathon. On my previous day runs I could tell I still had the burn of depletion in my legs, so my goal for this workout was about 5:30 pace. During my strides, I knew it was going to be tough going. What I really needed was an interval workout- a workout with rest, not a continuous effort, as my I could tell that my legs were not recovered/fully fueled from the marathon effort and the past three days of no running following the race.

Anyhow, I attempted to give it a go and learn my body. You always read about guys that can run a 2:15-ish marathon and come back the next weekend and run 30-flat for 10K. I wanted to find out if I was one of those guys- NOT! Seriously, this is why I do things like race 6 days after a 26-mile effort: to learn what MY body is capable of and not capable of. See, when we start training really well, we believe we are capable of anything... we can run through walls, run back to back hellacious workouts. But, I love doing things that bring me back to reality. this race was like driving a car on empty: every time I would step on the gas, there would be nothing there. No response, other than an "oh-well". :)

And so, I jumped in this "race" and was brought back to reality. The best part about it was that 1) I didn't even break a sweat and 2) I could have held my breath the whole 35-minutes, well, not really, but my breathing/heart rate is tremendous at 5:30 pace (I stopped to stretch four times during the race)... it's my legs that need re-fueling. And I need to be careful not to dig myself into a hole any deeper than I really am.

Oh, and I got to meet and speak with the founder of my new running club, Octavio Diaz of the Bikila Athletic Club (see link on sidebar). What a great guy. Very knowledgeable about the sport (thus, the name). So, my new uniform will be black top and red shorts, much like Bikila used to wear..

Now, back to serious training on Monday (20-miler scheduled) to prepare for one of Miami's biggest races on my birthday, March 3rd, an 8K in which I wanted to win, but I will only race if I no longer feel that "burn" of depletion in my training.