Wow, my last 10k was such a stunner and huge PR (back in June). Since then I've run a tough 50k, strained my back and missed a little running, tried picking it back up and sprained/damaged my left (usually good) ankle/foot, and last Monday - Labor Day - I cracked a rib as a result of a dirt bike fall (crash?).
Since I'm supposedly running Chicago in four weeks I figured I'd find out how out of shape I was by running the Tacoma Bank to Bay 10k. I'd never run it before, but it is billed as a fast 10k. I ran most of the course for a warm up and found the race starts at about 50' elevation, goes up to 140' elevation, drops down to 0' for a while, goes over a high bridge for another gain of about 40', then repeats all the above after the turnaround - not my idea of a fast course, but not necessarily brutal either.
My left foot mostly bothers me on downhills, but my broken rib hurts with any jarring motion, any bending motion, or any deep breathing. Not that I'm using that as an excuse :)
I ran as hard as I thought I could, and even picked it up to 5:30 pace for the last half mile to bury a couple guys before the finish. I ended up with a very disappointing 39:30 - my slowest 10k since at least 2005 I believe.
So with 4 weeks until Chicago I guess my pace will be about 7 mpm - arghh. I can't believe I've gotten 2:30 slower over 6 miles in 3 months! I guess since I'm so slow and feel like I won't have a fast Chicago I may run a 50k (Cle Elum Ridge 50k) this coming weekend (with 7,000' elevation gain/loss). My slowness won't matter much there, but I also don't want to aggravate my left ankle/foot issue and miss Chicago entirely. I have a couple more days to decide I guess.
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