Best Damn Test

Saturday was the annual Best Damn Race in Safety Harbor where I competed in the 10k & 5k races. This race is special being in my backyard, the best organized run event I’ve experienced, and always full of familiar faces racing, cheering, and volunteering. Here I’ll share my adventures from a great Saturday in the Harbor.

I had an extremely full duathlon racing season last year which meant my last straight run race was just over a year ago. I was looking forward to this race to gage my current fitness level after having a bit of a breather in December post duathlon season. I chose to do the 10k/5k challenge as they are the distances I compete at for Duathlon National & World Championships so they act as great tests and with the 5k second, helps me with the feel of running on worn legs like in a duathlon after running and biking before the final 5k run effort.

I felt good going into the races with the exception of extra fat I’m carrying in the abdominal region from an indulging December but with the run miles and efforts I had been logging recently I had confidence I would run well. I had my pace goals for each races which were aggressive but in my mind doable. That’s what an early in season race is about…test current fitness level to see how big of a gap there is to my target goals for June and go from there.

First up was the 10k. I haven’t race many straight 10k races but it is the first run in my big duathlon races each year so this is a distance I’m really working on gaining more of a feel within the miles so I can adjust for a duathlon race. The race started with mile one going as planned feeling pretty good and my pace acceptable. Mile two and three felt the roughest from a cardio perspective and my paces leveled off and bleeding just a hair but hanging around above my overall goal pace.

Mile four and five felt better in terms of my cardio and my leg muscles really settled into a good stress feel. I was turning my cadence over well and I was still hanging in close enough to make a charge for my goal pace. With just under two miles left we made a u-turn where I noticed a gentleman who looked like he could be in my age group and that was additional motivation for me to keep the pressure on myeslf. I was also battling another gentleman along the route. Near the end I caught him at our final turn to the finish line with another 100 yard sprint remaining. I was on the outside of the turn and I could not make up the ground I lost from that finishing two seconds behind him. I found out both of the gentlemen I was running around were 41 years-old so I was clear from any placing outcomes. Mile six was faster than every mile except for mile one so that was a great sign and I just missed my target race pace by one second.

It was then time to recover and get the legs ready for the 5k 90 minutes later. My quads felt a bit ripped but my legs overall felt strong as they did late in the 10k race so I felt good going into the 5k knowing I had the endurance and knew the freshness feel was not in any situation.

In previous double races like this, I’ve traditionally felt pretty well in mile one of the 5k and then the legs go south quickly for the remainder of the race. In this race I didn’t have that pretty good feel in mile one so the entire race was a battle from the start. Just over a mile in I saw the gentleman who beat me in the 10k by two seconds as he passed me but I kept him within reach as he built a 15-20 yard lead. With just over a half mile left I found myself closing the gap and that was the motivation I needed to be in full ‘game-on’ mode. I chose to pass him with about a half mile left thinking I didn’t want to get in a sprint at the finish with a 41 year-old’s legs. He didn’t stick with me as I passed and when I made the final turn to the finish with about a hundred yards left I turned it up one more notch. He wasn’t behind me and I pressed through the finish. I was off my goal pace but I had a great mental fight test.

Lots to reflect on. .. The results were good in general for this stage in training. In the 10k I was one second off my goal pace, finishing with a time of 42:01. That was good for the fastest racer over 50 years old, 1st of 32 in my age group, and 24th overall of 1,052 competitors. The 5k pace was off by too big of a margin for my liking. I placed 1st of 41 in my age group and 13th overall of 1,129 competitors with a time of 20:24. In the two-race challenge, I placed 2nd overall.

The fitness test of these raes confirmed what I was thinking going in. My run legs were in pretty good shape with base mileage and recent efforts to start a season. I will be working on the fat that needs to shed off and slice into the paces as I progress into the season and approach Nationals in June. That will happen as I’ve already began eating more whole food plant-based coming off of a big indulging December. More to come…

I also had a Best Damn Finish as post race I was able to cheer and celebrate with friends and teammates. Hearing everyone’s stories about a wonderful morning makes these race days priceless. 

– Add Health to Your Life