Lockport Y-10

I was looking at this race as a tempo run as part of my marathon training. My previous tempo run lengths had been in the 4-6 mile range at a pace of 8:05 or so. Not really knowing how I'd hold up under the temperature, length, and hills, I set a rather conservative target of 8:35/mile.

Looking down at my 1st mile I was shocked to see 7:57. I thought that I'd better reign it in quick or I wasn't going to survive the final hill. This time was made very easy due to the mostly downhill running. I really tried to back off the next few miles, but still logged 8:16, 8:08, 7:46 (!). Again, mostly because of the ease of running downhill. Mile 5 leveled off quite a bit and a clocked a 8:24.

I was really feeling good still, half way through, so I thought, why not pick up the pace a bit. My new target was 8:20. I also invented a fun little game in my head I call "Reel 'Em In!". Basically, I set my sights on the person immediately in front of me and try to pass them. I get a +1 for each person I pass and a -1 for each that passes me. After, the 6th mile (8:25) I was even, passed one, but was passed by 1. Mile 7, still feeling good I picked up the pace some more (8:12) and now was +2. Mile 8 and 9 got me to +7, with splits of 8:03 and 8:13. Despite the nasty little hill at the end of mile 10 I was able to finish a +16, with a final split of 8:13. According to my GPS watch the course was actually 10.05 miles, and I ran that last .05 at a 5:56 pace.

I felt really strong throughout the race, even with the hills. I felt as though I still had something left in the tank, which makes me feel optimistic about my marathon, which is now only about 5 weeks away.

Mileage: 10.05
Time/Pace: 1:21:57/8:09
Avg HR: 160
T/W: 17 (WC 12), light snow, wind

For some reason the results are missing for 85-145th place, right where I'd be. Looking forward to seeing where I placed.

**UPDATE**

They added the rest of the names, here's what I did...

6 of 13 in my age group
100 of 278 overall