Lake Monger 10km Run

The last time I did a 10km race was probably more than 5 years ago, when I ran about 44 minutes. It was the Asics Bridges run. I did continue running the distance in my training, and if my memory doesn't fail me, my best time was just under 42 minutes. But even then, the last time I did a 10km training run was also nearly two years ago.

Hence, coming into this race, I did not have any set expectations. I had quite a full session this week, with a 3 hour ride in the hills the day before, and I would have logged nearly 48kms in running mileage after the race. The last time I ran more than 40km was nearly 1.5 years ago, as I did not clock in the long miles during my preparation for last year's Ironman Western Australia due to injury.

Having said that, I was feeling pretty good. And judging by my current fitness, I was targeting for any time under 41 minutes. I felt relaxed at the start of the race. The good thing of having done much longer races before, a short one like this may feel like a walk in the park (but the pain I felt later while actually running is VERY different!)

It was organized by the WA Marathon Club, a small local race, three loops around Lake Monger. The turnout was probably just over 100 people. The course is flat, but it was pretty windy. Luckily, we were sheltered by trees most of the time. I probably started a bit too quickly, and I struggled a bit with my breathing. I was surprised when my watch showed 3:54 at the first km marker, but it later showed 4:17 for my 2nd km split. Hence, I knew the markers will be slightly inconsistent.

Finally got into the groove after the first lap. There was a guy who was like, 3 times my size, Ipod in one hand, wearing cotton T-shirt, bermudas and gym trainers and he was running alongside with me up until the second lap. My ego was yelling at me, "No Way I'm losing to this guy!" So just after we got into the 3rd lap, I turned up the pace and he dropped off.

Redlined for the last 2km and sprinted home to a new 10km PB of 40:26. Pretty stoked with that! There wasn't any fanfare at the finish. There weren't enough water cups even after 45 minutes. I wasn't sure if there were prizes, but I didn't care. I did a good run and I'm happy with my time.

Now to get something to eat...