The plan - run the first hour in hr zone 3, and build to zone 4 and 5 the second 1.5 hours.
The reality - felt really good at the start, and tried to stay in zone 3 but was in zone 4 for part of the first hour. I managed zone 4 in the second 1.45 hrs when I wasn't walking. There was no zone 5 in sight.
This is the first time I've ever attempted to actually "race", usually I go out and run the distance at the same pace I've been training. You'd think after all of the races I've done I'd know how to do this.
The weather was fantastic! Just below 0, sun shining and the roads were clear for about 90% of the course. There were some snow covered slushy spots. We started and I was with a couple of friends (that I know are faster than me.) Stayed with them for a couple of kms and then let them go. My biggest concern was my knee but it seemed to be holding out fine. I had to keep slowing down because my heart rate was in zone 4. I felt good but really wasn't sure how I was going to manage to run faster in the second half because my legs were already starting to feel tired. The worst part of the first half was a side stitch that wouldn't go away. When I crossed the mat my 10km time was 1:17 - I was really happy with that.
The second half - my stomach was hurting, legs were tired and my hamstrings kept seizing and causing my toes to curl up. I would walk and it would stop seizing, then I'd start to run and it would happen again. By the last couple of kms it stopped and I managed to run the last km, but I was disappointed that I couldn't reach my goal of finishing under 2:40. Official finishing time - 2:45:48.
Overall: average pace 7.56/km and heartrate 167bpms
For the record the km splits:
1-6.39 (heartrate) 163
2-6.44 174
3-7.02 173
4-7.24 167
5-7.27 168
6-7.48 173
7-7.30 171
8-7.43 171
9-8.04 169
10-7.27 169
11-7.30 174
12-7.57 170
13-7.49 173
14-7.48 170
15-8.01 166
16-8.35 168
17-8.46 163
18-9.36 154
19-9.27 157
20-9.15 162
21-8.03 168
