{I've gotten a little out of order as I still haven't written a race report for Tri-Shark which was in early June, stay tuned for that one at a later date...if I get around to it ;)}
Clint and I left to head over to Peoria at 5:21am. We had planned to leave at 5:15 so by our standards we were pretty much right on time ;). Five minutes out and I say in a cold panic, "I forgot my watch!" Clint, of course, offers to turn around but I tell him it's not necessary. I didn't want to make us late(er?) and I really didn't have high hopes for the race anyway. As we drove, though, I was distracted for much of the time thinking about how on earth I would run "blind"?! I am terrible at estimating pace, time, etc.! I decided that I would shoot for an 8-minute/mile average for the race and hoped that there would be clocks with split times at the mile markers to help guide me on my watch-less way.
Soon enough we pulled off of the highway and into a parking lot not far from the Mark Twain Hotel where we planned to meet up with the rest of the Often Running team for a group picture. We walked over to the hotel, keeping our eyes peeled for cast-off leftover boxes of meat but sadly saw none {aside: last year we found some nasty leftovers in the parking lot pre-race;-)}. We found the team in the lobby and took a picture before some (the smart ones?) headed out for a warm-up. Paul offered up the use of his selfie stick but for some reason we didn't take him up on it and instead had someone else in the lobby take a (very nice) group team picture of those of us in attendance.
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| Love these somewhat crazy cats! :) |
Clint and I took a bathroom break (separately, people!) and then headed back to our car to leave our gear. While we were at the car I realized I actually needed to hit the bathroom AGAIN so we went back to the hotel quickly before heading to the start line. I did a bit of jogging and a few "strides" as we made our way to the start line...probably not enough of anything to constitute a REAL warm-up, but it was something at least. Frankly (right, wrong or otherwise!) with my foot being such a loose cannon lately I didn't want to "waste" any good running on a warmup!
After standing and dancing around a bit in the starting corral it was soon time to get to work. As I ran across the starting line, I identified a girl that I had seen that ran around my pace at the U of I half marathon (I think she actually ended up beating me by a bit). I recognized her because she runs with an interesting gait that seems like it consists of some excess arm movements...but clearly works out for her as she is running faster than I can manage! Knowing that I ran around what she did at the U of I, I thought that maybe I should try to stick with her since I was running sans watch. However, within the first hundred yards or so it was clear that she was starting out much faster than I am currently capable of so that idea was scrapped....I tried to reassure myself with the thought, "maybe she's just running the 4 miler today!" ;-)
I settled in to what I thought was a comfortable pace and before I knew it I saw the first mile marker. There was a clock at mile 1 that let me know that I ran that mile in 7:07. Sweet! I mean, probably a little on the fast side but I will take it. I felt good and was moving comfortably. My foot was a non-issue at this point as well.
Shortly after mile 1, Mike Eckhoff ran up on my right side. He said hi and we chatted for a bit. I told him that I didn't have a watch and was running blind. He told me that if I stayed with him, he could help me out and tell me splits. I decided to try...but this didn't last long. As we approached the Mile 2 sign just after the entrance to the park (and the start of the HUGE hill...and where the lucky 4-milers get to turn back around!)...I dialed it back a bit, thinking I wouldn't be able to hold Mike's pace for the rest of the 7+ remaining miles.
Sadly, there wasn't a clock at the mile 2 marker, but I "felt" like I was still running about what I had at the beginning of the race. As I began the third mile and did my best to power up that stupid HUGE hill for the first time, though, I felt my pace slow. I did my best to take even strides and to breathe through the pain. Before long, I was cresting the hill and continued along the course. Somewhere prior to the first 5k point I saw Clint running on the inner loop of the park as I was on the outer loop. He looked strong and great (as usual) and I could tell was pretty far toward the front of the 15k runners. Awesome! Seeing him gave me a little mental boost and I dug in a bit harder than I had been.
At the 5k mark, I was greeted by another clock. This one proclaimed that I crossed in 23:00 (7:24 pace). Great! With some quick-and-clumsy mental math, I estimated that my pace had definitely dropped from mile 1 but not by much. I made up my mind to make it to the 10k mark (I was assuming...correctly...that this would where the next clock would be) in just over twice my first 5k time...so 48:00 or under.
I did my best to hold my pace steady as I soldiered on. The first time running down the big hill on the way out of the park was kinda fun, in spite of slight worries that I would topple over and roll down the hill. When I saw the HUGE hill at the park entrance for the start my second loop, I sighed and pushed forward. A guy had run up on my right side at this point and I made it my personal mission to lose him. About halfway up the hill, I was successful. I continued on my way through the second loop. Somewhere on this loop I saw Josh Favus cheering and then later I saw Ansel Wachter (who worked at Running Central and I know from both running the NYC Marathon with an Easter Seals fundraising team in 2013...an AWESOME runner!)...both of them were spectating and cheering at the top of two different hills in the park. Talk about a great spot to hear someone shouting your name!
At the 10k mark, I ran past the clock in 46:45. My goal for running the 10k in under 48:00 had been met! (At this point in the race, my average pace for the entire race was 7:31 min/mile and my average pace for the second 5k was 7:38.) As I continued past the 10k mark, I realized that if I could hold my pace steady or increase ever so slightly, I could likely finish in under 1 hour and 10 minutes. This seemed kind of crazy to me, even at this point in the race, since I haven't been running much lately (thanks, plantar fasciitis) and I wasn't sure how long I could hold onto a sub-8 pace.
As I got into the 3rd 5k of the race, I felt great. My foot was aching a bit...but the level of pain was nothing compared to where it has been at times over the past few months. I started pushing a bit harder to see just how hard I could run the last 5k. When I got to the point where there were 2 miles left in the race, a clock told me that I crossed this spot at 55:00.
"Two miles," I told myself, "just two stupid miles...you can make yourself hurt for two stupid miles. Run these miles in 7 minutes each and you will finish in 1:09!" I picked the guy directly in front of me to catch and pass...and then did so. At mile 8 (so 1.3 left), a kind girl told me that I was approximately the 16th girl. Wow! I started to notice that when people cheered as I passed they were saying things like, "good job ladies," so I assumed that there was another girl (number 17?!) close behind me and knew I should try to hold her off.
We turned to the left and started down the final hill. The girl I assumed was behind me was suddenly passing me on my left. This happened right around the time that I saw the Often Running team on the street corner, smiling and yelling. I thought, "Oh dear me...I shouldn't let her pass me now!" and dug in and passed her right back. I "sprinted" toward the finish about as hard as I could...and she passed me back again. Oh well!
I saw Clint cheering from the stands to my right and then I crossed the finish line in 1:08:53. I ran the final 5k in 22:08 (an average pace of 7:08...and really those final two miles were run in 13:53!). This is one of the ONLY races (actually THE only one I can think of!) that I ran the final 3rd of the race faster than the first 3rd! And...specifically, the final 2 miles were both faster than my first mile! I ended up being the 19th female overall out of 354 total gals (no females other than that one girl I mentioned passed me in the final miles...I guess the girl at the Mile 8 sign was a bit off ;)...maybe there were some manly women??)
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| Check out those insane triathlete tanlines ;) |
I stumbled around for a minute and soon saw Clint, who came bearing water. My legs felt decently terrible and my foot was definitely talking to me...but shortly after the finish I realized that I could've indeed kept going for a few (?) more miles had I needed to. This is a good, good feeling.
I believe I have only run 2 other 15k races: Steamboat in 2011 (in 1:23) and Hot Chocolate in Chicago in 2012 (in 1:21). So...hooray for a large PR!!
Clint and I both got awards for being in the top 25 15K finishers in our gender! What a day :-). He ran it in 1:00:20, a course PR with a pace of a sick 6:31/mi!
THANKS to Mitch for the privilege of being on the Often Running Racing Team, my Often Running and Challenge Triathlon teammates for the support and camaraderie, Coach Clint for the leadership and guidance and Adidas for the sweet gear. Can I just say, I am actually in love with my new racing flats. Not only are they beautiful (Pink! Purple!) but they are crazy comfortable...and fast!
CONGRATULATIONS to fellow Often Running Racing teammate Amber who qualified for Boston on Steamboat day! And, of course, CONGRATULATIONS to everyone else who ran Steamboat! What a great morning it was...full of awesome efforts all around!
Bring on the next race and more fun adventures! :)
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