I wasn't sure if last years race was going to be my last or not when I ran it. I simply can't put my body through rigorous year round "race" training as I did in my 50's. But this is such a great race and I still have the itch to compete. So I decided to give it another shot in 2022. It's a lottery entry race, but for an inflated entry fee, they let you run it without needing lottery luck. I guess money talks. So that's what I did. I bought my way into the race this year. Another reason I did was because I turned 65 earlier this year, advancing into a new age group (or old depending on how you look at it 😄) men 65-69 years old. Figured my best chance to shoot for a high placing in my new age group is now when I'm 65, not 69!
I'm still working out year round, running 15-18 miles a week, lifting weights and riding my bike. Just enough to keep me in heart health shape. But to run a 10 mile race I needed to get my body back into race shape as best I could at age 65. I had a race training template that I used to get myself in race shape last year and used it as a baseline for this year. The general idea was to train more aggressively in the 3 months leading up to the race (July, August and September). There were issues with my 3 month plan last year. Calf and right hip related injuries slowed my training more than I had anticipated and also came into play during last years race when my left calf cramped up in mile 4. I didn't want a repeat of those issues this year. My goal being to run an injury free race pushing myself as hard as I can.
Training for this years race did go much better. I successfully completed my target mileage of 35 miles per week including eight - 10 mile training runs. One every Saturday leading up to the race. The only thing that didn't go as hoped was my plan to incorporate more interval and tempo training into my daily 4 mile runs. Every time I attempted to an uptempo pace, I could feel my calf muscles on the verge of cramping, or even a muscle pull or tear. I've tried everything from diet, massage guns, stretching exercises etc. to keep my calf muscles loose, but nothing works any more at my age. They just always stay tight as a drum no matter what I do. As a result, my only successful uptempo runs were my 10 milers where I started slow and increased my pace each mile so by mile 10 I was running a 7:30 pace. 7:30 was my goal pace for the race this year after running a 7:48 pace last year. But it doesn't build a great deal of confidence when you only run 1 mile at target race pace even though it was the 10th mile of each of my 10 mile training runs.
TCM 10 Mile Course Map:
https://www.tcmevents.org/sites/default/files/2022-09/2022%2010%20MILE%20MAP.pdf
Last year I was overflowing with adrenaline and excitement heading into the race as it was my first race in over 4 years. This years race had a more business like feel. I was definitely excited, but also more serious about how I was going to run it. I guess I felt more pressure to perform this year - particularly from a competitive perspective knowing this year would be my best shot (as the young kid) to place as high as possible in my new age group. The MTC 10 Mile is a tough but fair course. You simply can't lock into your race pace and expect to maintain it mile after mile. You need to know what each mile brings and modify your effort to match the elevation changes to maintain your pace. The first two miles are primarily downhill from US Bank Stadium to the Bohemian Flats on West River Parkway. These miles include some relatively steep sections that really pound your quads as you race downhill. It's important not to let yourself get carried away with early race excitement and run too fast through this section, or you will pay for it later.
The next three miles (3, 4 and 5) consist of slow rolling hills as you progress along the West side of the Mississippi before crossing over to the East side as you follow the river south. It was here where my left calf cramped on me last year. So far so good at the halfway point and my pace is in the low 7:20's - slightly better than by 7:30 goal pace. Miles 5-7 are the toughest miles in the race. All three miles consist of varying degrees of hill climbing with no offsetting downhill sections to give your legs a break. This section will make or break your race. If you haven't paced yourself properly you will potentially flame out here, leaving your tank on empty for the last three miles. The toughest section for me is the end of mile 5 when the course turns East away from the river and begins a short but steep climb up to the U of Saint Thomas campus. It's the steepest section of the course and it literally sucks the life out of you physically. So it's important to stay mentally tough here knowing the next two miles are also uphill, just not as steep as you begin the long straight stretch up Summit Avenue.
Miles 8 and 9 are technically flat, but they don't feel flat. In fact the first half of mile 8 actually includes a slight decline. But Summit Avenue presents a bit of an optical illusion in that you can see far ahead on the straight road and if you peer toward the horizon it looks and feels like you are always approaching another climb in the distance. I've always found it best to keep my eyes down and focus on the section of road directly in front of me. The good news for me was that I reached the 8.5 mile checkpoint having run these last three and a half miles at a 7:26 pace. Just 4 seconds slower than my first 5 miles. By the time you finally reach the mile 9 marker you are more than happy to make the big sweeping left turn at the end of Summit Avenue after running in a straight line over the past three and a half miles. It's a welcome turn as you know you are entering the final section of the race.
With about a half mile to go Summit Avenue turns into John Ireland Blvd by the Cathedral of St Paul. This is my favorite part of the race as swing past the Cathedral and peer down on the final half mile towards the State Capitol. It's mostly downhill followed by a quarter mile straightaway to the finish line. This is where you try to open it up your stride and take advantage of the downhill again. I did, but not as successfully as I hoped. Although I didn't suffer any cramping this year, the calf muscles in both my legs were tight as a drum and hindered my ability to extend my strides on the downhill. Instead, my strides were more choppy than I wanted. I still successfully increased my pace over the final mile and a half, closing with a pace of 6:59, but just not smooth and comfortable. But bottom line I did it! I finished with a time of 1:13:16 with an average pace of 7:20/mile - almost 5 minutes faster than last years race. Overall I finished 508th place among 8,473 finishers and 5th of 87 in my age group. I had hoped to medal in my age group by finishing in the top 3, but there are some old guys like me still running their butts off and I give them all a major pat on the back for their amazing success! The top 4 in my age group finished with times ranging from 1:08 to 1:11 which is amazing.
At any event, I'm very pleased with how my race played out for me today.
Race Results:
https://www.mtecresults.com/runner/show?race=14275&rid=12768
