Fort Steilacoom Resolution Series 10K: I got a PR and am feeling better about my Boston goals

I sometimes consider whether my running goals are costing too much. I'm running more than I ever have before as I build-up to the 2020 Boston Marathon. That's 50+ miles /wk right now, with the goal of running Boston in the 2:50's.

I'm aware of the trade-off I'm making between time spent on relationships and work, and the time I spend running. Once a week or so I shorten or skip my scheduled training to allow more time for something else.

Sometimes I feel guilty about this. I wonder if I'm not dedicated enough, or not disciplined enough.

But this little 10k was a wonderful sign that the balance I'm striking so far...is enough!

Enough to set a massive PR, which makes me feel more confident in my goals for Boston.

And I'm pretty proud of that.

My goal was to run 39 minutes (6:20 average pace).

My coach said to aim for 95 seconds per 400m and hang on to that for as long as I can.

It was a super gray drizzly morning. It was nice that we could use Steilacoom high school cafeteria to hang out in and stay dry before the race started.

I have a confession: I drank a Red Bull before the race. This is not normal behavior... but it just felt right. I blame the Kriesmans for teaching me this trick.

The race started on the track and then was an out and back.

I bought this red shirt yesterday to make me feel fast.

(The kid in the onesie didn't last long...)

The rain stopped almost as soon as the race started!

My official finish time was 38:37, solidly under the goal! My last and only 10K, in 2014, was 41:25, so this was a huge PR!

Here are my splits:

I was felt pretty controlled and smooth the entire time. I think I only slowed down in mile 6 because I wasn't sure I was going the right way for a little while.

The main challenge of the race mentally was not letting the excitement of seeing those fast initial splits on my watch affect my effort. I didn't want to limit my effort just because I was ahead of my goal, but it was hard to keep away the fear that I was running too fast and that I'd burn out. The pace was so much faster than what I'd done before. My mantra was 'stay with it' and also I kept remembering this part of the intro to 'How Bad do you want it' by Matt Fitzgerald that I read that morning:

""In every race, something within each athlete poses a simple question: How bad do you want it? To realize your potential as an athlete, you must respond with some version of this answer: More. "

My friends Tabatha, Paul and Mary all ran the 10K. I missed Mary's finish but got a few photos of Tabatha flying across the finish line:

I'm looking forward to the next race in the Steilacoom series. I'll probably try the 15 miler.

And finally...I spied some inspiration for good Strava Segment names (no one needs to know we stole them from a Colorado climbing routes guidebook)