Squamish Days 10K Race Report

It's vacation time in B.C.! (Well, now, Seattle, Washington late on Sunday evening. This post started Sunday afternoon in downtown Vancouver.)

And with as much driving as we did yesterday and today, I would suggest that B.C. stands for "Beautiful Country" as well as "British Columbia." It is hard to equal some of the breath-taking views going up the Sea-to-Sky Highway to Squamish and Whistler. The latter, of course, will be the home to the skiing competition of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

After having to work on Thursday and Friday being one of those "disaster" family days that we occasionally have, Saturday morning I took the bus out to the Vancouver International Airport to pick up a car for the remainder of the trip. I had hoped to head south to Lake Cavanaugh, Washington for a 7.8-miler event called "Once Around Lake Cavanaugh". But crossing the Canada/U.S. Border at the Peace Arch was going to be an absurd wait of at least an hour and a half. (It was bad all weekend. Some announced waits were up to three hours to head into the U.S.!)

We took to some sight-seeing earlier at Fort Langley ("the birthplace of British Columbia") and Power Falls at Stave Falls Visitor Centre (BC Hydro) before making it back to the city to see fireworks from Mexico in English Bay as part of the HSBC Celebration of Light.

This morning, we drove north to Squamish when the Squamish Days 10K was being held. The flyer stated "accurately measured flat and fast course" but as we kept climbing to drive there, I thought that there would be no way. We had breakfast at McDonald's there in Squamish at about 7 a.m. Race-day registration took place until 8 a.m. with the race starting at 8:30 a.m.

It was run on city streets. (Squamish is a town of 16,000.) Volunteers did an excellent job blocking off traffic and the course was very well marked. (We drove the course before the start of the race.)

At 7:30 a.m., it was 55 degrees and I had my long sleeved Penn State running shirt on; however, by 8:15 a.m. when I started to warm-up, the temperature had increased enough for me to switch into a short sleeved shirt.

I've been having problems with my glutes for a couple of months now and I was worried that I would not be able to get them stretched out enough to race. I told Waverly before the start of the race to not expect anything better than a one (1) hour and two (2) minute finish (1:02).

Running on a course marked in kilometers, I know that I need 6-minute per kilometer splits to make an hour. So, that was the target even though it was completely unrealistic to be able to hit that given my recent activity level.

Nine (9) wheelchair racers got started five minutes early and then our race began. Below are my splits as well as commentary and thoughts throughout the race:

Kilometer 1 -- 5:45.88
The most difficult part of the race for me is in the first mile or kilometer as I always try to just settle into a rhythm, but usually I end up going out too fast. Today was no different.

Kilometer 2 -- 6:01.38 (11:47.26)
I'm pleased that I was able to keep it around 6 minutes, but I knew early that there wasn't going to be anyway to hold it. Especially when the temperature had warmed up a little bit - enough to feel the sun.

Kilometer 3 -- 6:11.30 (17:58.56)
I took water on during this kilometer. The time that I took to walk and drink it put me over the magical 6-minute per km split.

Kilometer 4 -- 6:17.73 (24:16.29)
By this marker, I was dehydrated and beginning to get a little gassed. (When I checked things prior to the race, color indicated that I was hydrated but I didn't have a large number of ounces in me and the warning light went on here.) One consolation: the scenery during this kilometer is some of the best that I've ever seen during a road race. Almost majestic.

Kilometer 5 -- 6:15.78 (30:32.07)
We made the turnaround and then passed the marker. I was hoping to be closer to the 6-minute per mark, but it wasn't to be. I did the math and figured that 1:01 was going to be a challenge as I was already spent (knowing that I wasn't specifically trained for the event and/or up in my mileage).

Kilometer 6 -- 6:36.18 (37:08.25)
I not only took on water past the halfway point, but I walked a little bit. The words of Lance Collins popped into my head stating that I was trying to run a pace faster than what I trained for because I had to walk. Very, very true.

Kilometer 7 -- 6:32.71 (43:40.96)
Just before I hit the kilometer marker, I crossed over a bridge that I almost stopped to admire the scenery. :) A couple of people were "well-wishing". I just stuck my thumb up and trudged on.

Kilometer 8 -- 6:39.73 (50:20.69)
The water stop was in this kilometer and I started to do the math that I was losing a half a minute per kilometer now on that hour goal. It kind of got me upset a little. Now a 1:03 might be out of the question and I told myself, "That would not be a good thing."

Kilometer 9 -- 6:16.37 (56:37.06)
As I passed the 8-kilometer sign, I had two people with me and I realized that two (2) 6-minute kilometers would leave me at 1:02:20. I figured quickly that 1:01-something wasn't going to happen today.

One was a gentleman that had almost been walking most of the way and another was a female. He didn't make an attempt to stay with me, but she did for a little bit. However, I started to try and pick the pace up as we crossed the street (from going with traffic to against it.)

I also had passed a marker that said "one mile to go". As I went by, I looked at my watch and it said 52:52. (I thought to punch the split, but I didn't.)

Somewhere in the middle of this kilometer, I also passed one female runner. I felt good, but when I got to the 9-kilometer marker I was disappointed that the split was only 6:16.37. However, it was better than the last three ugly splits!

Kilometer 10 -- 5:54:26 (1:02:31.32)
As I passed the 9-kilometer marker, I realized that I had three people in front of me. Somewhere in the early stages of the last kilometer, I passed one female runner. I had two others in sight and I wasn't sure if I couldn't muster up enough speed to get them.

When we got to the race site at around 6:30 a.m., they were just sitting up. Therefore, I thought that the finish line was up further than what it turned out to be. So as we approached the Howe Sound Secondary School building on the street, I tried to turn up the notch because there were two runners that with a good strong kick in the end that I might be able to catch them too!

As I was approaching the last left-hand turn, I looked at my watch to see either 3:xx-something or 4:xx-something or both (at two different times!) I didn't think I was going that fast, but I knew then that there was a lot longer to the finish line than what I had thought.

The two runners that I had in striking distance before the last turn finished in 47 (1:01:44) and 12 seconds (1:02:19), respectively, in front of me. (Ok, maybe one was in striking distance!)

The runner that I got ahead of at the 8-kilometer marker, I think, caught me coming down the stretch. She finished three (3) seconds ahead of me. I had tried to go one more notch up, but I felt my left hamstring starting to strain - and I wanted to finish this thing!

I didn't even acknowledge Waverly or Gena in the stretch to the finishing line because I wanted to get it over with.

The gentleman that I left behind at the 8-kilometer mark finished at least 2 and a half minutes later.

And I covered the last mile in 9:39. Not bad.

Overall
I felt good about this race. The course was basically as flat as a pancake. Yes, it is 4 minutes off of my PR, but it was better than my last outing out at this distance (in Anacortes, Washington). It is also better than the pair of 1:04s that I had last September in Alvin and Klein.

I finish dead last in my age group (19 of 19), 101st of 104 men and 171st of 187 overall. Oh well!

I need to rein in those middle time splits to a more managable and even pace. And I need to get the mileage up. I know that the report was long, but thanks for hanging in there!