The World Championship 10K was held in Berlin last night. American Dathan Ritzenheim finished in 6th place in 27:22:28. 6th place may not sound great but considering the competition (including the great Bekele who won his 6th championship 10K in a row in 26:46:31) it was a great showing. The fourth fastest ever by an American and close to the American record. He ran the second 5K in 13:32. I can’t imagine be able to run that fast. LetsRun.com has decent write-up of the event here http://www.letsrun.com/2009/10k0817.php

I ran my own 10K on the track this morning. It was a workout with recoveries and I was a little off the American record at 41:50 but it was a great workout.

The plan was 2X [2x400@5:45 pace (100), 1200@6:00 pace (200), 2400@6:20 pace (800)]. Confusing but it means I run 2 laps at 5K pace, 3 laps at 10K pace and 6 laps at half marathon pace with some short recoveries and repeat.

I’ll refrain from writing all of the numbers down as I am sure nobody wants to read through them. I nailed every interval. I was really dialed into the paces and nearly every lap was just at or under the target pace. I felt great on the final 2400 at half marathon pace and pushed through the last lap in 84 seconds with still a little gas in the tank. I was very pleased, especially on a warm and humid morning. Today was the first time I felt that all this interval work is paying off. The heat and humidity sap your energy and I think mask any fitness gains I am making.