Cursa de Sant Antoni - 10k

This time I broke 38 minutes!!! 37m50s!!! Next year 37 minutes. Since training for the marathon end of March does not allow for the same speed training and ultra marathon training later on even less.

The race started at 9h30. It was a beautiful day, a bit cold but very sunny and hardly any wind, so great for running. The first week of the 3 week training cycle preparing this race I had a serious cold and I compressed all the training in the last 2 weeks hoping I would recover well enough. Yesterday I woke up with signals of a second cold coming up and I did not feel very well. Early this morning I was most of all very tired, but the cold so far was restricted to the nose cavities and I could breath normally.

The good mark of the last race let me start in the first group and the first kilometer was quicker and less pushing because of that. I passed in 3m38 and maintained the same pace through 2k in 7m20 until the third kilometer in 11m02. I slowed down a little since surely such a fast pace later on would cost me more time than I would gain. The half way mark passed in 18m39 and slowly I started to become tired and it became harder to maintain pace. From km 6 to 7 the road went sligthly up (Av. Parallel) and I surely lost seconds there, eventhough running along with 2 other runners helped to maintain pace. I passed 8k in 30m26, 2 seconds behind schedule, and for a moment I thougth that maybe 38 minutes was not for today. I concentated on my running form and eventhough I felt tired I made it to 9k exactly on schedule in 34m12, so maintaining pace and sprinting at the end should do it. Once again after turning the last corner the finish line looked to be still very far a way, but I sprinted on and when I could see the clock at the finish I knew this time I do would finish under 38 minutes.

Cursa dels Nassos 2011

With many lessons learned from the last race, the Jean Bouin on 27th of November, which gave me my first oficial PB in 38m40 on the 10k and a good last week of training I was feeling well prepared for "la Cursa dels Nassos". The morning of the 31st of December I woke up with a painfull left calf and I spent the rest of the day worried, keeping the leg cool and trying to massage the muscles hoping it would not bother me running. Around four a clock the whole family left for going to the area at the other end of Barcelona where the race started. The warming up was good news feeling that the pain was not bothering me when running and after a last stop at the toilet and washing down a sportsgel with water I entered my box to wait for the start.

The first hundred meters there was a lot of pushing and tripping and the pace was far from ideal, so getting away with a 3m48 on the first kilometer was not bad at all. The second kilometer there was a bit more space and I made up for the time lost on the first coming through in 7m30. The next kilometers where going easy and relaxed eventhough from time to time maintaining pace was hard because of groups of people forming barriers running at a slower pace. Half way was just passed 19 minutes, so much slower than the 18m45 of the previous race. Kilometer 6 passed without me noticing it while we were more or less stuck on a biking path in a group that was going just a bit too slow. Kilometer 7 I was still only a few seconds behing the 38 minutes schedule and feeling quite ok. I maintained good pace upto the 9th kilometer passing 12 seconds behind schedule. I decided to maintain pace untill turning the last corner and going straight for the finish line. 1 minute and the finish looked to be really far away, but I had breath and energy left for the sprint! Half way I heard my wife Montse shout my name, but I was too tired to find my family in the crowd and sprinted on to stop the clock at 38m02. I guess I should have watched the watch a second time to see I really could finish under 38 minutes, but I also know the next time I have a good chance to do so anyway!!!