Perhaps the best 10 km race - VTM Loop 2017
Disclaimer: Automatically translated from Russian
Ok, super short, super fresh report on yesterday’s race - VTM Loop 10k, which was planned as a rematch for the failed Grachtenloop, on which in turn I planned to break my personal record by 10 km at 38:03, set on Vondelparkloop in January of this year.
The plan was extremely simple - out of 38 minutes, preferably at an average rate of 3:45 min / km - this is my current target pace for 10 km, in which there is quite a lot of work on the track on Tuesdays. The track was promised extremely flat and straight as the railway, and did not deceive:
2 laps of 5 km in Maasdijk somewhere near Rotterdam. Two main distances - 5 km (run one circle) and 10 km (right, two circles). As a bonus - a children’s race and a pedestrian approach.
OK. I got without adventure. Corfball Stadium, got a number:
I immediately note that almost all the people in club T-shirts are here and Den Haag Atletiek, and Leiden Atletiek and all sorts of others. I previously looked at the protocols of past races and the time of the winners was somewhere around 30 minutes, so no expectations - the participants are very strong.
Blurred to the place of start, dropped things, go out and build:
Everything is simple: at the start of the orchestra, the starting gate, who got up where - he ran from there. All union members are all equal. I got closer to the beginning. With a delay of a couple of minutes, the shot started:
Well, what to tell further - immediately reached the target pace from 3:35 to 3:45 and fled. Ahead of me, someone was constantly looming, and I was not shy to hide from places of a rather strong wind:
On the first lap, for some time I ran after a leading girl:
Then he even got ahead of her a couple of kilometers, but after a while she kicked my ass.
5 km for 18:26. It seems normal, there is strength:
On the seventh kilometer it became more difficult, the pace began to fall until 3:47. At around 7.1 km, I lagged behind the group and to the mark of 8.6 km I spat completely alone, open to all winds, at a pace almost to 3:51 min / km, but there were still chances, therefore did not give up. After marking 8 km, the shower became quieter, the finish was just around the corner, so it turned out to get together. 300 meters to the finish line behind, someone began to breathe heavily, clearly intending to overtake me, but managed to accelerate and not miss the enemy. Finished right behind the first girl:
In my defense, I will say that she is clearly from born runners and generally from category V18. And we have the same time in the protocol.
Finish. Time on the watch is 37:04, normal, PB is improved by almost a minute, let’s see what the protocols show. I look around - the central square, beer is poured, carousels, a climbing wall for children, some kind of stage, they give out water, sponges. Medals? No, medals are not issued. Give out the shirts. Okay. I take a shirt and go to watch other participants finish. It starts to rain. Hiding under the canopy. The rain intensifies. The children’s race begins, and I run into the car to change clothes. Then I decide to return and see the award, since I arrived, suddenly something will fall, although hardly, what if? Okay, I’m returning to the square and watching the reward.
Award children, men and women 5 km in absolute and age categories. Then the winners are 10 km by category and in absolute.
Men:
Women:
No, nothing fell apart: the 20th of 374 in absolute and the 4th in category M35, almost reached the category. Although a little bit - almost a minute and a half. In a year, perhaps, I will master.
Protocols:
Even sub-37, cool. We increase the target pace to 3:40 and continue to work.
PS. I didn’t take water with me, gels all the more. At a distance, water was not given out in cups as usual, but in plastic bottles with a narrow neck - it is very convenient to drink, but less environmentally friendly, of course.
PPS. That’s what I like about these short-distance races, so this is something that does not need to be restored - the next day I am ready for training. Or didn’t I just finish it? Next “ race ” - August 12, see you soon.