This event, hosted by FW Running Company, is a night run through Trinity Park. There is a 5k loop that is completed once for 5k runners and 4X for 20k runners. This would be my 1st night run, and would require a headlamp, as portions of the trail are not well lit at night.
As mentioned in my previous post, I needed to log lots of miles today in preparation for Chicago. With a slow, steady 10k under my belt from this morning, tonight's 20k would round out a 30k day. My highest daily mileage total ever.
I was pretty tired this afternoon, as my sleeping patterns have been crappy of late. But, I was out the door a little after 7 to find parking and prep for the race at the race site.
This would be my 1st 20k, so, I was unsure what to target as a pace. I settled in on 10 min / mile, as I ran the 15k last Monday in 9:47 / mile, and, 10:00 / mile would be 20 seconds faster per mile than my fastest 13.1 to date. 10 min / mile would give me a target time of 2:04. Ambitious.
Fortunately, the weather was great, so, heat and humidity would not be an issue.
I got off to a comfortable start and booked a 9:33 1st mile. I dialed it back a bit, and ran miles 2 and 3 in 10 / mile. Early on, I felt something sharp in my sock. I was hoping I could ignore it, but, just before the end of the 1st loop, I stopped, stripped off my shoe and sock, and removed a sticker. About 30 seconds lost.
The run continued with consistent splits through the 2nd loop. My headphones died at about mile 5.5, but, no big deal.
Loop 2 complete, and off to loop 3. A quick pee break at about mile 7, and then back to my standard pace. I knew if I could get through the 3rd loop and feel good, I could likely pick it up a bit for loop 4. While that sounded good, my slowest mile was mile 11.
No issues finishing strong on this one. 2:06:12 per my Garmin. 10:05 a mile. I slightly missed my 10 min / mile target, but, 15 seconds faster per mile than my 13.1 PR. I suspect that my chip time was over 2:07 due to sock and pee stops...times have yet to post online.
30k done for the day, and, as a bonus, I took 2nd in my AG.
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