Lone Gull 10k Race Report

Back on May 18th I ran my first ever 10k, and labeled it as "shit race, good effort." It was just under three weeks after I had run Big Sur, and in retrospect it was a predictable outcome. The Lone Gull 10k had higher expectations. Intervals had been going well, Fresh Pond results had shown a steady improvement, all while running good mileage and staying healthy. So while this wasn't exactly a goal race, I still had goals for it.

Photo Courtesy of Tom Cole

I was relatively close to the front of the pack waiting for the gun to go off, and I didn't have any nerves. My warm up went well, and the weather was perfect. The first mile went by in a bit of a blur, but my split was roughly 6:04 - a little fast, but the effort wasn't concerning. I came through the 5k in just under 19 minutes, and felt good. There wasn't any wind along the course at this point, nor were there any hills of note.

I started to over think things just a tad towards the end of mile 3...wondering if my legs were getting tired or if my breathing was labored, but I took inventory and realized I felt really good and should maintain pace and increase effort. There was a slight hill toward the end of mile 4, but I was running strong and passing runners.

With about a mile and a half left I picked up the pace and really started to pass runners. I knew that there was a short steep hill at the end of mile 6, followed a short downhill before the finish and I picked out some runners to try and catch up to them at that point. Mile 6 ended up around 5:57, and I put my head down and handled the short hill well. For the final straightaway, I was able to open it up and pass a big handful of runners. I saw the clock approaching 38 minutes and kept the effort, but after I passed a big group of guys there was only one female runner that I would've passed just a few meters before the finish - so I let up just a tad to finish even...for some reason I felt like it would be a meat-head move to pass her at the last second, but now I'm not entirely sure.

In any case, I finished with a chip time of 37:59, averaging a 6:08 mile, and I didn't have to second guess letting up. That time is 2 minutes and 38 seconds faster than the 10k in May. Now my PR isn't so soft.