Yankee Homecoming 10 Miler - 2007 Edition

This race for me marks the beginning of the dog days of summer. When I did this race last year, temps were in the high-90s at the start, and humidity was just overwhelming. Here's my log entry from last year:

Running Race 6:30 pm > Edit or delete	Yankee Homecoming 10 miles 1:17:06 (7:42/mile)	Weight: 165 Rest HR: 48 Avg. HR: 165 Max HR: 173 Asics Gel Landreth 2006 (163.4 miles)
Ugh! What a night for a race. Decided from the beginning run as a tempo run @ 165 HR. Splits: 7:02 (158/167), 7:36(165/170), 7:40(165/168), 7:52(165/170), 7:54(166/169), 7:43(166/168), 7:45(165/168), 7:33(165/169), 7:47(166/170), 8:15(165/173). kept a pretty tight reign on HR, never letting drift above 170 except for the uphill finish. 165 avg. HR is probably still a bit of AT, but not sure given the weather. Definitely could not have run another 10 miles at the same pace.

Given these conditions, its a wonder anyone keeps coming back to do this race. I have to admit, my running club does foot the bill, but I think there are some reasons I haven't considered. This year, the forecast was for low 80s/high 70s and low humidity, so I knew right off the bat that I could actually race it this year. The 10 mile distance is not a common race distance, so my strategy was to do half marathon effort for the 1st 5 miles and take it from there. The course is by no means flat, but it does offer two extended downhill stretches, and an unpleasant uphill 1/2 mile to the finish line.

I found my way to the second or third row with about 5 minutes to spare and waited for the gun to go off. At the start, I settled into an easy pace and cruised through the 1st mile in 6:10. I knew I wasn't going to be able to hold this, but I tried to maintain a similar effort and let my HR rise to about 170-171. Shortly after the 2nd mile mark, the crowd support started picking up as we passed through downtown Newburyport. Things got interesting hear as we started riding up against the slower 5K runners who had started 5 minutes earlier. Since it was still early, I didn't have too much trouble dodging runners, the plastics cups strewn about, and the occasional water hazard from the numerous hoses that were running. However, I did hear a couple angry words from 10 mile runners trying to avoid swerving 5K runners. Around mile 3, I was passed by a couple masters runners, and decided to pick up the pace to stay with them. The pace was still manageable, despite a pretty steep hill from about mile 4.5-5.

After passing mile 5, I took a gel and did a quick assessment of my condition. I was feeling relatively comfortable and I knew I could hold this pace to the finish. I was considering picking it up at this point and right on cue, a woman passed me from the Somerville Road Runners. It took me awhile to respond, but I tried to maintain contact with her as she looked really strong. Little did I know that we would develop a little rivalry over the 2nd half of the race. Shortly after mile 6, there was a nice long downhill section, so I took advantage and passed her back strongly. I held on to a thin margin for the next mile or so, but she managed to catch me again as we entered another long downhill stretch. This time, I let her take the lead over the long downhill, then got the lead back going over the 95 overpass at about mile 8.5. She came back strong again around mile 9, and I decided to wait for the final uphill stretch to make a decisive move. As soon as the incline picked up, I started driving hard and passed several runners leading up to the finish line. The last stretch was particularly devilish because after a long uphill section, you make a right turn into the school up a very steep hill, but the finish line isn't visible until the last 50m. I was hoping to break 1:04 after monitoring my progress, but I was very happy with my effort.

77  1439 WAYNE CHAN  30 M    15/88   M3034 BROOKLINE       MA 1:04:16  6:26 BAA #1            

I was also pleased with how I reacted to being passed; in the past, I would have just continued plugging along at my pace. But today, I found the strength to really push myself. I plugged my time into the McMillan calculator and out came 3:00:00 on the dot for the marathon. So, I'm right on schedule! Here are the splits and my mug shot courtesy of Jim Rhoades.

1. 6:10 (157/165)
2. 6:16 (165/169)
3. 6:27 (170/173)
4. 6:28 (171/175)
5. 6:36 (172/176)
6. 6:35 (171/174)
7. 6:30 (172/176)
8. 6:20 (171/175)
9. 6:19 (174/177)
10. 6:35 (176/181)
1:04:16 (170/181)