(no subject)
Race Report: Fleet Feet Spring Forward Distance Run 15k 3/27/2010
Location-Stewart Lodge at Mendon Ponds Park, Mendon NY (just outside Rochester)
I am running a half marathon on April 25th. So per Hal Higdon's intermediate training program I was due to run a 15k race around this time. (The fleet feet group are conducting a concurrent distance training program for the same half-marathon, so they are pretty smart with timing these events for maximum turnout). Training has been going well. I have been following the schedule and feeling good (knock on wood). Even with being sick the past two weeks, I have managed to do most of my planned workouts.
Here is the boring mental arithmetic I performed to arrive at my time goal.
I ran a 5 miler on St. Patrick's day weekend, and I finished in 46:56 (9:23 pace). Plugging this number into the amazing McMillan race calculator, it told me I could run the 15k at a 9:47 pace. Ha! When I try to do pace runs @ 10:00, I feel like I'm hauling. Add this to the fact that everyone who has run this race in previous years tells me that the hills are KILLER, and I was thinking that 9;47 is not really a realistic goal for me. I do my long runs at 11:00 pace, and my longest run has been 9 miles to date. I set a goal of 10:00 miles, figuring it was kind of lofty, and told myself I'll be ok with anything from 10-11:00 min miles which would give me a time of 1:33:12 to 1:42:31.
Ok, onto race day. It's cold, but not too cold. About 40 degrees, slightly windy, a little gray. I meet up with my normal running group and we try to fool each other into thinking that the course isn't so scary, and that the hills won't be so bad.
Bang! off goes the gun. And away we go. Or should I say up we go. A hill right off the bat? Thank goodness I run hills every Tuesday night. I stayed with my group for a mile, but then we started doing a back and forth where I would gain on them up the hills and then they'd pass me on the downhills or the flats. Eventually, because the course was a lot more uphills, I left them behind and had to run on my own for the rest of the race. The first 5k flew by. I checked my garmin and I was at ~30:10 at the 5k point (9:43 pace). I was feeling really confident because the hills were bad, but they weren't killing me. I felt strong going up them.
I was surprised to see that I was on track for my McMillan predicted pace, but I knew it was still early in the race, and not knowing what the course looked like ahead was a little scary. I decided to try to pick up the pace a bit..what the heck. I could always slow down if I needed.
At this point, I focused on a lady running ahead of me and just stuck with her for the next 5k. This 5k felt like an eternity, and I could tell I was getting tired of the constant up and downhill. I started having conversations with myself to keep me entertained. I remember thinking...'oh shoot, try to remember each mile marker and how you felt, so you can write your race report for LJ runners.' There was a water stop at 4ish miles and I walked through it, so I could give my legs a rest and actually get some water in my mouth. I lost ground on 'the lady', because she had her own hydration, so I made it my goal to catch back up to her again. (I did, and eventually passed her.) The race course, besides being hilly, was actually a pretty nice country route. I actually saw some deer frolicking in the fields while I was running, which was pretty cool.
OMG finally 10km! I crossed the marker at ~59:30, meaning I had been running @ a 9:34 pace. I'm a stubborn person, so now that I had come so far and was totally demolishing my goal pace, I had had HAD to keep it up. Come on now Christine, only 5k more to go, I kept telling myself. 5k is nothing. Little did I know that the last 5k had a really steep incline that never seemed to end. And while at the beginning I felt good on the hills, at this point my legs felt like burning jelly. Is that even possible? I pushed and pushed and kept moving, scared to look at my Garmin and see my pace slipping slower and slower. I passed a water station at ~7.5 miles without stopping. It was tempting, because it was in the middle of a long hill, but at the same time, I didn't want to stop moving and not be able to start again.
The miles were slowly ticking away. 2 miles left. 1.5 miles left. I kept telling my legs to go faster, the end is almost near. About 1 mile left and I really tried to push it. I didn't want to end the race feeling like I could have done more. Maybe i pushed too hard, because I ended up having to walk for the first time (not counting water stops) on a hill ~.6 miles from the finish. But after a few seconds of walking, I kicked myself mentally and ran for the finish. (One of my friends would later tell me she saw me running toward the finish, and it looked like I was really flying. It must have been the moment after that mental lapse.) I could see the finish line, but it still seemed so far away. I was really proud of myself for pushing my limits, but I was really hoping I wouldn't hurl on a sprint to the finish. But I did it anyway. Sprint, not hurl :p And I crossed the finish line in 1:29:04 (9:33 pace). So happy with my time and performance in general. I didn't think it would be possible for my to run 9.3 miles at that pace, let alone with the rolling hills the course covered. This gives me a lot more confidence for the half marathon.
splits: pace (♥ rate)
1-9:51 (150)
2-9:35 (164)
3-9:21 (163)
4-9:18 (167)
5-9:20 (166)
6-9:35 (167)
7-9:35 (166)
8-9:45 (169)
9-9:24 (170)
.3- Garmin malfunction..no clue :)
TLDR; version
15k
1:29:04 (9:33 pace)
313/439 Overall
113/211 Females
19/29 F 25-29
Here's an elevation map from the race.
Anyway, I ♥ this community. Thanks for listening to me babble about stuff that my friends (bless their hearts for at least trying) usually glaze over about.
Location-Stewart Lodge at Mendon Ponds Park, Mendon NY (just outside Rochester)
I am running a half marathon on April 25th. So per Hal Higdon's intermediate training program I was due to run a 15k race around this time. (The fleet feet group are conducting a concurrent distance training program for the same half-marathon, so they are pretty smart with timing these events for maximum turnout). Training has been going well. I have been following the schedule and feeling good (knock on wood). Even with being sick the past two weeks, I have managed to do most of my planned workouts.
Here is the boring mental arithmetic I performed to arrive at my time goal.
I ran a 5 miler on St. Patrick's day weekend, and I finished in 46:56 (9:23 pace). Plugging this number into the amazing McMillan race calculator, it told me I could run the 15k at a 9:47 pace. Ha! When I try to do pace runs @ 10:00, I feel like I'm hauling. Add this to the fact that everyone who has run this race in previous years tells me that the hills are KILLER, and I was thinking that 9;47 is not really a realistic goal for me. I do my long runs at 11:00 pace, and my longest run has been 9 miles to date. I set a goal of 10:00 miles, figuring it was kind of lofty, and told myself I'll be ok with anything from 10-11:00 min miles which would give me a time of 1:33:12 to 1:42:31.
Ok, onto race day. It's cold, but not too cold. About 40 degrees, slightly windy, a little gray. I meet up with my normal running group and we try to fool each other into thinking that the course isn't so scary, and that the hills won't be so bad.
Bang! off goes the gun. And away we go. Or should I say up we go. A hill right off the bat? Thank goodness I run hills every Tuesday night. I stayed with my group for a mile, but then we started doing a back and forth where I would gain on them up the hills and then they'd pass me on the downhills or the flats. Eventually, because the course was a lot more uphills, I left them behind and had to run on my own for the rest of the race. The first 5k flew by. I checked my garmin and I was at ~30:10 at the 5k point (9:43 pace). I was feeling really confident because the hills were bad, but they weren't killing me. I felt strong going up them.
I was surprised to see that I was on track for my McMillan predicted pace, but I knew it was still early in the race, and not knowing what the course looked like ahead was a little scary. I decided to try to pick up the pace a bit..what the heck. I could always slow down if I needed.
At this point, I focused on a lady running ahead of me and just stuck with her for the next 5k. This 5k felt like an eternity, and I could tell I was getting tired of the constant up and downhill. I started having conversations with myself to keep me entertained. I remember thinking...'oh shoot, try to remember each mile marker and how you felt, so you can write your race report for LJ runners.' There was a water stop at 4ish miles and I walked through it, so I could give my legs a rest and actually get some water in my mouth. I lost ground on 'the lady', because she had her own hydration, so I made it my goal to catch back up to her again. (I did, and eventually passed her.) The race course, besides being hilly, was actually a pretty nice country route. I actually saw some deer frolicking in the fields while I was running, which was pretty cool.
OMG finally 10km! I crossed the marker at ~59:30, meaning I had been running @ a 9:34 pace. I'm a stubborn person, so now that I had come so far and was totally demolishing my goal pace, I had had HAD to keep it up. Come on now Christine, only 5k more to go, I kept telling myself. 5k is nothing. Little did I know that the last 5k had a really steep incline that never seemed to end. And while at the beginning I felt good on the hills, at this point my legs felt like burning jelly. Is that even possible? I pushed and pushed and kept moving, scared to look at my Garmin and see my pace slipping slower and slower. I passed a water station at ~7.5 miles without stopping. It was tempting, because it was in the middle of a long hill, but at the same time, I didn't want to stop moving and not be able to start again.
The miles were slowly ticking away. 2 miles left. 1.5 miles left. I kept telling my legs to go faster, the end is almost near. About 1 mile left and I really tried to push it. I didn't want to end the race feeling like I could have done more. Maybe i pushed too hard, because I ended up having to walk for the first time (not counting water stops) on a hill ~.6 miles from the finish. But after a few seconds of walking, I kicked myself mentally and ran for the finish. (One of my friends would later tell me she saw me running toward the finish, and it looked like I was really flying. It must have been the moment after that mental lapse.) I could see the finish line, but it still seemed so far away. I was really proud of myself for pushing my limits, but I was really hoping I wouldn't hurl on a sprint to the finish. But I did it anyway. Sprint, not hurl :p And I crossed the finish line in 1:29:04 (9:33 pace). So happy with my time and performance in general. I didn't think it would be possible for my to run 9.3 miles at that pace, let alone with the rolling hills the course covered. This gives me a lot more confidence for the half marathon.
splits: pace (♥ rate)
1-9:51 (150)
2-9:35 (164)
3-9:21 (163)
4-9:18 (167)
5-9:20 (166)
6-9:35 (167)
7-9:35 (166)
8-9:45 (169)
9-9:24 (170)
.3- Garmin malfunction..no clue :)
TLDR; version
15k
1:29:04 (9:33 pace)
313/439 Overall
113/211 Females
19/29 F 25-29
Here's an elevation map from the race.
Anyway, I ♥ this community. Thanks for listening to me babble about stuff that my friends (bless their hearts for at least trying) usually glaze over about.