Quick personal update: along with getting married next Friday the 27th in St John's Newfoundland, I'm running the Tely 10 on Sunday for the sixth consecutive year. This year will be different, however, as my family will watch me finish. And all of whom are most definitely out of towners.
Different, yet the same story every year it seems, is the record number of racers. 2012 looks to be topping 3600 entries. Last year just under 3,000 even finished the race. I'm glad there's so much involvement, though I doubt Paul McCloy's 47-minute record will fall. A few months ago I wrote a piece about the Tely showing that more runners does not necessarily mean faster runners. But I am glad this year will be attracting its fair share of competitive guys. Most conspicuously is Matt Loiselle, who will likely win this year's race. His times are hard to beat, usually finishing top three Canadian in big races (often behind Reid Coosaet or Eric Gillis). I might not make it near the podium if more come out of the woodwork. Who knows. I prefer to do some homework (to know of potential winners) but I won't be overly concerned about the who's who of the Tely. It's a 10 mile race after all, not a 1500m. I need to find my own pace then maybe latch on to someone else's if the winds pick up. The rest is beyond my control.
My legs are in decent shape, though I may be overtired from training. Bottom of my right foot is a little tingly/sore, probably from too much aggressive massaging. I haven't been overtraining, but a funny thing happened to me when I moved to Halifax in early June: the week after settling in I had this sudden rush of energy (just from being in a new city? Who knows). I spent some of this energy unwisely, the way you'd blow your Christmas bonus. Ran some great workouts and great mileage, then some not-so-great ones, then less mileage... Probably wasn't wise of me to join the Halifax running club on Sunday long runs before I was used to the pattern. I did get to see a lot of Halifax on foot, however. My overambitious streak led to a sore leg muscle and I've since had to take some rest days (At least my foot isn't broken like it was two years ago. That race was unpleasant).
Otherwise this season the mileage was fine and the workouts were good; lots of longer intervals, 2-4 km, the kind that are hard to cheat. Only regret perhaps is that I let slide the tempo runs a little too early (four weeks without a longish tempo run). If I had to redo the plan I'd have added a 50 minute, 9-mile tempo in early July to simulate the race distance/time. But I'm resting now and racing Sunday.
As per usual there's a purse for top three; $750, $500, and $250 respectively (plus Running Room gift certificates). It's a nice little bonus to help motivate the less pleasant times in the race. I honestly hope there are lots of fast people running. I want to beat my own times, but there's no shame to losing against three or four sub 50 minute competitors. It'll mean Newfoundland is on the running map, and that's good business for everyone.
