Running 10,000 meters isn’t easy. It takes a long time to complete and demands a lot from the body. Adding Tel Aviv’s humidity and a stupid race strategy, endurance and suffering are mixed together.
I had trained for the Tel Aviv night run for over a month. My final result in the lab (aka the air conditioned gym) was 53 minutes. I usually started with 4-5 minutes of a slower race, and then accelerate to a steady pace. This allows the body to make an easy transit from anaerobic effort to aerobic effort.
I expected to score the same result also in the field. I assumed that the adrenaline rush would compensate for the strong humidity. Well, I can blame the humidity, but I can mostly blame my bad running strategy.
Seeing about 10K runners and lots of noise, I started the race at a very strong speed, forgetting all my training experience. I finished the first 2K at a pace of 45 minutes per race. I was talking to the people around me, waving to the bystanders and running far away from the pacers that ran at 55 minutes per race.
My race metrics (very nice graph)
After about 3K, I began feeling tired. At such an early stage in the race, the rest became a struggle. I struggled not to walk, struggled not to go to bathroom, and struggled to keep up with so many runners that left me behind.
Well, I passed the test of endurance, and completed the race at 57 minutes sharp. After it was over, I felt great satisfaction and I regained my physical strength.
Finishing the race (I’m in the middle) – video capture
Both images taken from here.
Next time I’ll save my strength and I’ll break the 50 minute mark!
