2013 Joe Kleinerman 10K (oh, and Happy New Year).

The week of December 31 to January 6 comprised of what my coach called “an aggressive taper” towards the Joe Kleinerman 10K .  Not sure what was aggressive about it.  Is it like tapering, but with aggression?  Was I supposed to get mad and go hit stuff? 

Most of December had been tough, tough, tough workouts.  Fartleks here, Hill Repeats here.  Mid distance runs on Wednesdays were a killer too.  It drains a lot to get up at 5AM to go put in 10 miles, yo.  So yea, anger and aggression had built up, but I don’t think that’s what he meant.  Although he did admitting to PILING tough workouts  (emphasis added).

Last year, I had PR’ed with Joe Klenierman 10K.  45:38 or 7:21/pace. 

The course was one of my favorite lay outs, where you started at the 102^nd Street Transverse and went counter clock circle of the Park from there.  This gets Harlem Hills, West Drive Hills and all the nasty bits out of the way first, and gives you about 1.75 miles of nice flat or downhill at the end to really push it.  LOVE LOVE LOVE this course.  Also, last year, I was full of confidence.  I was running faster and I knew I was going to PR this.  AND the best part was my training partner was running it.  I didn’t want to be left in the dust by her, so there was that extra push. 

This year, I had struggled SO MUCH with the hills, I wasn’t too sure how I was going to do.  In fact, I thought it would be a small miracle if I could run sub-7:30 pace.  My training partner wasn’t running this race.  And to top it all off, the course was different.  The stupid hills are in the middle, there is not flat -to-downhill at the finish part to kick it into top gear.  Not to mention poor training results cause me to be scared straight and so nervous Friday night that I forgot to go grocery shopping.  I’ve done more races than I care to remember now, but this race was different.  It felt like this was my first 10K race ever.  Every time I thought about the start corrals, my stomach ached and my hands got sweaty. 

I do wish that I didn’t lose so much concentration and take in so much “recovery” between mile 3 and 4.  That is the part that’s down hill off Harlem Hill and onto the next first West Drive Hill.  I was “saving” for the rolling hills and the Annoying Tavern-On-The-Green Hill.  I didn't know I was going so slow because I passed a BUNCH of people on these hills, though.  But all in all, it's just not a good idea to "save" when going for a PR…guess that's the difference between being confident in your running and not.  At some point low expectations becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

Split	Time	Distance	Elevation Gain	Elevation Loss	Avg Pace
1	07:20.0	1	55	28	7:20
2	07:09.5	1	0	28	7:10
3	07:35.1	1	69	73	7:35
4	07:39.7	1	48	0	7:40
5	07:22.8	1	27	61	7:23
6	07:22.5	1	9	24	7:23
7	01:38.2	0.23	0	0	6:59
	46:07.9	6.23	208	214	7:24

Just for reference, here’s 2012:

Split	Time	Distance	Elevation Gain	Elevation Loss	Avg Pace
1	07:24.2	1	70	57	7:24
2	07:22.7	1	86	59	7:23
3	07:16.6	1	0	61	7:17
4	07:29.1	1	44	37	7:29
5	07:30.5	1	66	28	7:30
6	07:06.8	1	9	36	7:07
7	01:30.7	0.22	0	0	6:47
	45:40.5	6.22	275	278	7:20

Fun Fact:  I was 14th in my gender & age group both this year and last year.  I guess EVERYBODY WAS F%%%ING SLOW. 

Since the course is different, it’s a bit hard to do Apples-to-Apples comparison.  It’s really matter of smidge here and smidge there, I suppose.  In hindsight, I think I could’ve pushed harder.  So now the more I think about it, the more AGGRESSIVE and ANGRY I feel about it.  This is called AGGRESSIVE REVERSE TAPER, maybe.  Or not. 

Anyways.  Onwards to more training, as now Boston is only 14 weeks away.  If I lose a pound a week, I’ll lose 14lbs by Boston.  Hmmm.