10k | Running with Eric

May 21, 2023

10k through Letchworth

On Sunday morning I ran the Vale of Three Falls 10k in Letchworth State Park. I finished the race in 53:54 which wouldn’t be a super fast time on a flat course, but with these hills it is something I am very happy with. This time is a course PR for me and an eight minute improvement over last year, and placed me 16th overall in the race.

Every time I run this race, I always forget how long the initial downhill is, as it goes for a full mile and a half for a very quick start (and a challenging finish). I felt ok throughout the first half of the race, and pushed up the turn around hill and ran the second half fairly steady.

The final climb to the finish was tough, but I found another runner to race against which helped push me to the finish. Unlike years in the past I completed the course without slowing to a walk (even when it might have made sense on the hills). While I didn’t feel particularly quick it is hard to argue with the results given the significant improvement from last year.

My next race is the Buffalo Marathon next sunday. My training feels a little behind, but I plan on going out with the 4:20 pace group and making the most of things.

May 24, 2022

Running the trails of Letchworth

On Sunday morning I ran the Vale of Three Falls 10k in Letchworth State Park. I finished the race in 61:40 which was just a few minutes slower than I ran the same course in 2018. Overall I wasn’t thrilled with the result, but I did finish comfortably in the top half of the field.

Having four years since I last ran this course, I had forgotten how much elevation this run had. As an out and back course with the entire first mile as a downhill, you at least know what to expect for the finish. I started off strong enough, but ended up walking the final hill before the turn around. But after the turn I was able to regain my pace, and only slowed down for a few stretches in that final uphill mile.

Also, Letchworth is just lovely.

My next race is the Buffalo Marathon in less than a week. Honestly I am a bit nervous about it as what I was hoping would be my marathon pace is a tad bit quicker than I ran this 10k. At least Buffalo is flat, but this upcoming 26.2 is going to be a real struggle.

July 6, 2019

4th of July 10k

On Thursday morning I ran the Lancaster Fourth of July 10k for the ninth year. I finished in 58 minutes which was slower than last year.

This race is always far too hot, and this year was probably worse than normal. I ran the first mile in 8:04 at which point I realized that my hope of a sub-50 time wasn’t going to happen. After the second mile, any thought of going fast had mostly faded away, and I slowed down to a long distance pace. In fact my first two 10ks in the Buffalo Marathon were pretty close to what I ran here.

I finished the first 5k in a bit over 27 minutes, and even stopped for water once or twice on the way back. I kept things slow and steady until I was approaching the finish line.

My next race is the Dirt Cheap race in Webster Park next Wednesday.

July 5, 2018

10k through Lancaster

On the Fourth of July I ran the Depew/Lancaster 10k for the 8th time. With the oppressive heat, this was one of my slower times on the course taking 56:14 to finish.

The first two miles went pretty well at an 8 minute pace, but after that the heat started to catch up to me. The worst part was (as always) the fourth mile down columbia. While much of the slowness was due to the heat, I wish my finish had been closer to previous years.

Next week I am off to Europe, so it will be awhile until my next race.

May 21, 2018

Running through Letchworth

On Sunday I ran the Middle Falls 10K at Letchworth Park. I finished in 57:33, which due to the elevation was a decent time and put me into 17th overall.

The course was an out and back and started off aggressively downhill. I was running in the top six for the first mile, and while I knew that it was an unsustainable pace the downhills made it feel easy. I reached the half way point in 15th, and if not for a steep uphill for the last quarter mile, I would have put together a fantastic split time.

Of course when an out and back starts out downhill, you have to run back up for the second half. While I had expected half the field to pass me on the way back, instead I held my own, not seeing anyone at all until two runners passed me in the final half mile. I was happy with how I did in this race, particularly because I hadn’t decided to enter the run until I decided that I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to go to Letchworth.

My next race is the Corporate Challenge tomorrow night in downtown Rochester…

July 6, 2017

4th of July 10k

On Tuesday morning I ran the Depew/Lancaster Boys & Girls Club 10k in 50:57. This was quicker than last year, but a few minutes behind my PR from 2015.

I am never prepared for this race and it is always too hot but I started well, finishing the first mile with a 7:20 split. I mostly held the pace for the second mile, before the heat started to catch up to me. I crossed the half way point in 23:25 and was still averaging a sub eight minute pace at the four mile mark. While I am disappointed in not finishing in under fifty minutes, this was still my second best time after many years of running this race.

I finished in 209th place, and in the top quartile of runners. My next race will be the Rochester corporate challenge next tuesday.

July 5, 2016

A 4th of July 10k

I only got in a single practice run in the past two weeks, so I knew going into the race that I was unlikely to match my PR from last year. Still I had hoped to do better than the 53:50 that I finished with.

After the first mile I had already fallen behind my pace from last year, but through the first two miles I was still on track to finish under 50 minutes. Around two and a half miles my knee started hurting and I knew that I was going to be in trouble. By the 5k mark I was over 25 minutes, and around 3.5 miles my knee started to be in serious pain. I was considering walking a bit, and was concerned that I wouldn’t even finish in under 60 minutes.

Mile four is often the hardest part of this course, but instead of being in trouble my knee pain went away and I finished the final two miles in pretty good shape. The middle two miles had been enough to kill my time, but it turned out to not be a complete disaster. Hopefully I can get some actual workouts in before the Shoreline Triathlon.

July 5, 2015

5 minute improvement in the 10k

On 4th of July I ran the Depew/Lancaster Boys & Girls Club 10k and finished in 47:30. This is 5 minutes quicker than I ran the same race last year, and a much larger improvement than I was expecting.

Despite the heat, I got off to a good start and was able to keep a steady pace. Overall I ran at a 7:39 pace and had pretty even splits. Typically the heat gets to me in this race when running the fourth mile down Columbia, but the whole race was so warm that no stretch felt any worse than any other.

My next race is back to the trails on Wednesday, where I will be running a course in Webster Park. In the past I have ran this course in 65:47, 61:18, 62:06, and 60:24 so I would love to be able to finally break the hour mark on this course.

Category: 10k