Tour des Fleurs 10K Race Report

by Bryan on 9/20/2008 at 1:38 PM in Health and Fitness

We're back from the Tour des Fleurs 10K/20K, where I raced my very first 10K.

Today started very early—the alarms began going off around 4:20 AM, and I was out of bed by 4:30 AM. The Tour des Fleurs was held in Dallas, around White Rock Lake, which is about 45 miles from us, so I wanted to allow plenty of time to take care of things, and to get over there for the 7:30 AM start.

After taking care of the typical early morning/pre-race necessities, I got a nice hot shower (I've asked before, but I'll ask again: who else takes a shower before a race?), ate half of an english muffin with some peanut butter, and sipped on some Accelerade, while Julie finished getting ready. I even had time to make the previous post before it was time to head out. By 5:50 AM, we were on our way, and by 6:40 AM we were at the YMCA White Rock, where we caught a shuttle over to the Dallas Arboretum for the start.

There were tons of people! Or at least it looked that way with everyone crowded on the path around the lake. After getting everything situated, I headed out for my warm up, and Julie made her way past the starting area. As I finished my warm up and started to make my way closer to the starting line, a woman came walking back past me (and kept walking and walking), holding up a sign for people looking to go for a 9:00/mile pace. That's me! So I fell in behind her, while a fair amount of the crowd moved further back. Unfortunately, a lot more people didn't heed the pace signs than did.

Within a few minutes of the start, I was across the starting line, but I was still barely running because there were so many people for such a narrow trail. Anyone who has run these races knows that this is pretty typical, so I didn't worry about it too much. In fact, I initially looked at it as a good thing, since it helped me to avoid going out too fast. However, it never really thinned out for the entire first mile, and I found myself having to work my way past way too many slow runners, walkers, and stroller pushers—they all should've been further back. Mile 1 was by far my slowest mile at 9:24.

Finally, in the 2nd mile, the path opened up a bit. There was now more room to maneuver, though I was still zigzagging a bit, as I passed people left and right. I was feeling good, running strong, trying to stay relaxed and bring my pace down closer to 9:00/mile. According to my Garmin, I completed mile two in 9:04.

The third mile was more of the same—working my way past people, and trying not to use too much energy doing so. I also was finally able to hold my pace closer to my goal pace. It was in the 3rd mile that we passed one of the bands that was playing along the course (one band before the 10K race split off from the 20K, and another band out on the 20K course). The band is evidently an Eagles tribute band, and they sounded pretty good, even though I was racing with my Zune, and had to listen to them through the noise of my own playlist. At the end of mile 3, the 10K and 20K course finally split. This split thinned the crowds a little, but not much, it also began the first good climb of the race. I finished mile 3 in 8:58.

As I mentioned, the 4th mile started with the first real climb of the race, and I went by a lot of people who were walking it. I just kept my gaze slightly up the hill, shortened my stride and kept pumping my arms all the way up the hill. Mainly, I was happy to be at the halfway point! The rest of mile 4 was up and down, first along residential streets, and then along a narrow bike path. The width of the bike path made it very difficult to pass, and my pace suffered because of that, finishing mile 4 in 9:04.

With the start of mile 5, the path was still narrow, we were still on some rolling terrain, though not quite as bad as mile 4, and it was finally time to see what I had left in the tank! I lowered my pace down to my tempo pace, while gradually working my way through the crowd. I even found time to grab a cup of water around the 4.75 mile mark. At this point, I was starting to feel the effects of the race, but I knew I was getting really close, and was able to continue pushing the pace. I ran mile 5 in 8:39—1 second faster than my current tempo pace.

The final full mile—mile 6. By now, I knew I was in the home stretch, and it was no longer a matter of “if I finished,” it was now “when I finished.” I was focusing on holding my pace, staying relaxed, and wondering if I'd have anything left for a finishing kick. Mile 6 is mostly a blur, but I can tell you that I continued to pass people, and I was rarely passed myself. The people who did pass me, were passed right back, as soon as I was able to move around the slower runners in front of me. Somewhere towards the end of mile 6, I pulled back up to a guy who had gone speeding by in the 4th mile. He still looked strong, and I wondered how much he might have left in the tank. As I would pull even with him, he'd surge ahead. He did this a couple times as we finished mile 6. Mile 6 was my fastest full mile at 8:30.

In the final .2, I continued this little game of “pull even, surge ahead” with that other guy. Honestly, I couldn't tell what he had left, but he didn't want me to pass him. I felt strong, was ready to race for the finish line, and had been bringing my pace down through the first tenth of a mile. As we approached the finish, still about a tenth of a mile out, and slightly behind him, I dropped the hammer and kicked with everything I had. He was toast—I never saw him again (oh wait, that might be him at the far left edge of the photo). The final .2 (.23 according to Garmin) took 1:43 for a 7:24/mile pace. I accelerated all the way through the finish, finishing at a 5:45/mile pace.

My official time was 55:21 (Garmin says I did 6.24 in 55:24 for an 8:52/mile pace), which was good for 38th in my AG (lots of people out for this race). While I would have liked to break 55 minutes, I am very happy with this race, and I look forward to doing more 10K races. I think a 53-54 minute 10K is very attainable in the very near future.

After the race, Julie and I, along with Darren, cheered on the 20K finishers, including Annabell, and Kevin of 5ksandcabernets, who I finally had the pleasure of meeting.

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