NSW 10,000m Champs - 8th in 32:46

Well, it was the usual build up to a night race - me being a stress bunny all day and driving Kirst mad.  Not helped by having our house on the market for viewings and trying to find other properties.  Dad had agreed to be my lap counter and keep me company on the way out to Homebush but I wasn't much company for him.  A few nervous mutterings and compiling a list of excuses.  Reached the track, said hello to everyone and did a warm up with Barts.

My plan for the race was to keep calm early on and bang out as many 78's as I could, hopefully with a group around me.  Well, that's pretty much how it went, but absent the group.  Started off following Nick Bellemore and Barts, but Nick pulled ahead and Barts slowed so I jumped in front of him around lap 3.  So the race was basically me pacing Barts from lap 3 until lap 24.9, when he overtook me in a sprint finish with 30m remaining.  Officially, he was 32:46:34 and I was 32:46:77.  I should have gone earlier, I left the sprint until 150m to go.  Barts said as much afterwards, as I could sense him working hard over the final 800m.

It was my first ever track 10,000m and I enjoyed it.  It's a long slog, and mentally more difficult than anything else.  But it's not the painful lung buster of a 3000m or the sustained pain of a 5000m.  From 2km until 5km we war banging out 75s and 76s feeling good.  Through 3km in 9:42 and 5km in 16:16 and I worked out that I could still get under 33 running 80s from then on (3:20 pace).  However, I must have relaxed a bit as by 7km we were at 22:56 (6:40 or 80 per lap for the previous 2km and probably slowing while doing so) but the fact that I was doing the maths and working this out shows how different it is to a 5000m when I'm often unaware how many laps I've got left let alone target times.  So I knew we had to start hitting under 80s a lap and we did - I'd look at the clock each time we passed the finish line and it'd be a 78 or 79.  So with 3 laps to go I knew we would be under 33mins and I figured that it was time the start working out how to beat Barts.  Gradually upped the pace and could sense him working but he still held on.  I've been doing a few sprints as part of every run and foolishly thought I'd have an advantage.  The last lap sped up all the way, I started sprinting at 150m but could still hear him.  It got desperate at 50m but then he comes past.  The announcer shouts out something like "WE'VE GOT A BATTLE BETWEEN A COUPLE OF STRIDERS HERE…..AND, OOH, HE'S FIST PUMPED IN TRIUMPH".  Yes, you heard it here.  Barts fist pumped as he crossed the line.  No apology.  No mention of "you deserved it Tom for doing all the work", just a fist pump.

Few laps warmdown.  Paid attention to an enthralling women's High Jump.  The girl who finished 2nd drew a big crowd.

In summary, very happy with the time, bit pissed off not to finish with a win over Barts.  But in good shape and body is going well.