Based on the success of my performance in the Credit Union SacTown Ten Miler, I started thinking I should run the Sacramento Zoo Zoom to set a new 10K personal record. When the weather forecast predicted that it would be cool, I knew the conditions were ideal, and that I had to go for it. Add the motivation from missing the race after signing up last year due to illness, there was no turning back.
The race day schedule was a bit odd: the 5K started at 8:00 with the 10K going at 9:00. Turns out that they wanted all of the 5Kers off of the course before starting the 10K (the 10K course was two loops of the 5K). Not sure why we couldn't share the course, but it was nice to not have to worry about wide patches of walkers blocking the way near the finish ... especially when chasing down a PR.
The course was advertised as "flat and fast" and boy was it ever. There was a grand total of 31 feet of elevation change according to my GPS watch (just slightly less than the SacTown Ten Miler now that I check the data).
Speaking of my GPS watch, I think the tree that lined the park we ran around playing havoc with the satellite reception resulting in some weird reading during the run. While I love my GPS watch, I wonder if it's resulted in me being too focused on current pace and less focused on enjoying the run. I'm hoping eventually to balance out the two.
Regardless, I got off to too quick of a start and had to slow myself down midway into the first mile. I still kept going a bit too quick in mile two, but then I settled in. I was targeting averaging 8:15/mile but just needed 8:21.8 to set a PR. I didn't have any miles slower than the 8:21.8, and four of my six miles were faster than 8:15. Here's the breakout of my run:
| Pace | +/- | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mile | Target | Actual | Mile | Overall |
| 1 | 08:21.8 | 08:08.9 | +12.9 | +12.9 |
| 2 | 08:21.8 | 08:05.3 | +16.5 | +29.4 |
| 3 | 08:21.8 | 08:11.3 | +10.5 | +39.9 |
| 4 | 08:21.8 | 08:17.0 | +4.8 | +44.7 |
| 5 | 08:21.8 | 08:19.4 | +2.4 | +47.1 |
| 6 | 08:21.8 | 08:11.9 | +9.9 | +57.0 |
| + | 01:47.2 | 01:34.7 | +12.5 | +69.5 |
The final 0.2 miles I averaged a 6:40/mile pace which I found surprising since I wouldn't have thought that I'd have that much left in me. Here's the badge for this race:
Along with being my new 10K personal record, this is also the fastest pace with which I've completed a race (faster than my 5K PR). Makes me want to take on a 5K to see how much I can improve on my time and best pace.
A few nice things about the Zoo Zoom that I failed to mention above: They set up markers at the start to indicate where people who were targeting certain paces (6 min/mile, 8, 10, 12, walkers). I appreciate this as I think it makes the start go better although not everyone pays attention and lines up right. For the 5K, they had pacers for each minute per mile target (and the pacers were dressed as zoo animals). Also they announced your name as you crossed the finish line which is always a nice touch.
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