D
Donovan Rebbech
Guest
Conditions: 15 degrees, 49% humidity, 12mph
Conditions were fairly cold, typically only January races are this cold in NY. This was OK with me,
I went into the race expecting/hoping for a run in tough conditions. The main goals ... nothing
clearly defined. My recent race times predicted about a 6:24 pace, but I didn't fully believe I had
a chance at this.
Training: I'd been just base-building. Working on getting a steady 50mpw. My "speed work" for the
last several weeks has consisted only of strides. Just a couple of days ago, I had run a fairly
difficult 12 miles over the same area at a 7:30 pace. So I wasn't feeling all that well prepared.
So I decided to shoot for steady 6:30 splits at the start and ad-lib from there. Saw Global at the
start didn't recognise him because he had one of those balaclava things (haven't been robbing any
banks, have you ? ;-) and he gave me some gel-carrying tips -- suggested I put the gels inside my
glove. I did this and it actually worked well. Chatted with team mates for a while, to pass the time
in the cold.
So the horn went off. I noticed one of the club runners who is about 12 seconds per mile faster than
me was behind me after about 400m, so I dropped back behind him, and eventually, he surged ahead.
First mile which was a down-then-up came up after 6:33. I was pleased with this. Keeping a steady
rhythm, a hilly mile 2 came up in 6:32. Mile 3 had a big downhill, so I ran a 6:19. At the end of
mile 3, some of the runners were already sounding tired and dropping back. Ouch! Through mile 4,
which has a short but steep hill, I was passing several people -- but the marker came up in 6:41
inspite of this. Not sure if the marker was misplaced or if it was the course or what. Spurred on by
the slowness of mile 4, plus a downhill stretch, I picked up some more places for a 6:16.
Second half of the race came up. At this stage, my goal was to make a few places but do so without
wearing myself down-- still holding a 3-3-2 breathing pattern. This mile was the same as the hilly
second mile, and they were dropping like flies. Made several places, with a 6:38 split. THe next
downhill mile came in 6:14. At this stage, the runners ahead were more spread out, so I hit the gas
for 6:19 and 6:21 in 8 and 9. Another negative splitter kept me company, surged ahead, then dropped
behind me, took off at mile 9. Then another guy shot through, too fast for me to catch. I kept
trying to reel them in on the final mile, but they were a long way ahead, so I had to charge in. The
last guy I caught held on, so I went into top gear and as it turns out barely stayed ahead for a
6:05 final split. The end time was 1:04:03, AG% of 69.7, just off the earlier effort (69.8 I think)
in the 4 mile.
Time: 1:04:03 Splits: 6:33/6:32/6:19/6:41/6:16 / 6:38/6:14/6:19/6:21/6:05 Half splits: 32:23/31:40,
8.6 seconds per mile negative. AG%: 69.7 Place: 32 overall, 14th in age group Highlights: my running
club came third, so I won a little medal. First time I've won something at one of these races.
Thanks for reading, and happy running,
--
Donovan Rebbechi http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~elflord/
Conditions were fairly cold, typically only January races are this cold in NY. This was OK with me,
I went into the race expecting/hoping for a run in tough conditions. The main goals ... nothing
clearly defined. My recent race times predicted about a 6:24 pace, but I didn't fully believe I had
a chance at this.
Training: I'd been just base-building. Working on getting a steady 50mpw. My "speed work" for the
last several weeks has consisted only of strides. Just a couple of days ago, I had run a fairly
difficult 12 miles over the same area at a 7:30 pace. So I wasn't feeling all that well prepared.
So I decided to shoot for steady 6:30 splits at the start and ad-lib from there. Saw Global at the
start didn't recognise him because he had one of those balaclava things (haven't been robbing any
banks, have you ? ;-) and he gave me some gel-carrying tips -- suggested I put the gels inside my
glove. I did this and it actually worked well. Chatted with team mates for a while, to pass the time
in the cold.
So the horn went off. I noticed one of the club runners who is about 12 seconds per mile faster than
me was behind me after about 400m, so I dropped back behind him, and eventually, he surged ahead.
First mile which was a down-then-up came up after 6:33. I was pleased with this. Keeping a steady
rhythm, a hilly mile 2 came up in 6:32. Mile 3 had a big downhill, so I ran a 6:19. At the end of
mile 3, some of the runners were already sounding tired and dropping back. Ouch! Through mile 4,
which has a short but steep hill, I was passing several people -- but the marker came up in 6:41
inspite of this. Not sure if the marker was misplaced or if it was the course or what. Spurred on by
the slowness of mile 4, plus a downhill stretch, I picked up some more places for a 6:16.
Second half of the race came up. At this stage, my goal was to make a few places but do so without
wearing myself down-- still holding a 3-3-2 breathing pattern. This mile was the same as the hilly
second mile, and they were dropping like flies. Made several places, with a 6:38 split. THe next
downhill mile came in 6:14. At this stage, the runners ahead were more spread out, so I hit the gas
for 6:19 and 6:21 in 8 and 9. Another negative splitter kept me company, surged ahead, then dropped
behind me, took off at mile 9. Then another guy shot through, too fast for me to catch. I kept
trying to reel them in on the final mile, but they were a long way ahead, so I had to charge in. The
last guy I caught held on, so I went into top gear and as it turns out barely stayed ahead for a
6:05 final split. The end time was 1:04:03, AG% of 69.7, just off the earlier effort (69.8 I think)
in the 4 mile.
Time: 1:04:03 Splits: 6:33/6:32/6:19/6:41/6:16 / 6:38/6:14/6:19/6:21/6:05 Half splits: 32:23/31:40,
8.6 seconds per mile negative. AG%: 69.7 Place: 32 overall, 14th in age group Highlights: my running
club came third, so I won a little medal. First time I've won something at one of these races.
Thanks for reading, and happy running,
--
Donovan Rebbechi http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~elflord/