Triple Crown Complete

The prologue to the 2008 training season is now over with the completion of the Papa Johns 10 Miler and therefore the completion of the Louisville Triple Crown of running.? There is still the Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon at the end of April, but by that point Ironman training will be in full swing.? Ill spare you the suspsense and say that this season has turned out to be incredible so far, and this race today would be no exception.

This was the first time I have run an open 10 mile race so I was not sure of how to pace myself. The 10K I ran two weeks prior left me very sore so I decided I would take it a bit slower than the 7:15 pace McMillan suggest that I run. I had a goal time of 1:15 and focused more than anything on keeping my heart rate right around my Lactate Threshold. I held this pace right at 7:30′s or below for the first 5 miles, or as close as I could as going through the park sent the heart rate spiking. About mile 6 we were coming out of the park and I kicked the pace up a bit from 6 through 8. It was this point in the race where very few if any people passed me for the rest of the day. If my pacing strategy held out, mile 8 is where I should have been able to drop the hammer and start flying past people. It absolutely 100% worked! I kicked the pace from the 7:15′s I was running to sub-7′s for the last two miles and I was passing people left and right. Strategy worked perfectly.

I finished with a new PR of 1:14:03, though any time would have been a record as I have never raced a 10 miler before.? I will definitely do this one again though.? It was a good mix of a fast out and back with a challenging hill section in the middle.? At the end you get to run into Papa Johns Cardinal Stadium and run a lap around the astroturf!? They even have a camera aimed at the finish line with your picture displayed up on the jumbotron as they announce the names of the finishers.? The post race band and free pizza were an added bonus as well.? Onward to the opening of the tri season now with the Headfirst Performance Sprint Triathlon out in Shelbyville on April 13th.