Rivertrail 15k Race Report

I was a little apprehensive going in to this race as I really didn't know what I could do. Ha, I probably said that in my 5k report too but its the truth. After little or no running from June through mid January, I really didn't know. I did know that the 9 miler I did last weekend was great and my fast lunch runs seemed to really be building my aerobic capacity back. I could finally breath again and run many miles without having to walk.

Getting up this morning the weather report had called for rain. At 6:30am it was 47 degrees and no rain which was perfect running weather. By the time Annette and I had gotten to the race site, it started to sprinkle. By 8am race time, the sprinkles had turned to solid rain. All I could think was that this is going to be a miserable race, but at least I knew I wasn't going to get too hot. One thing that probably saved me from mentally ruining the race was the fact that last year when training for Nashville, we ran a 20 miler in a pretty much flash flood. So after that, rain really doesn't bother me as much, and this was only 9.3 miles!

I had two goals for this race. 1) was to run a 1:30 and 2) was just to PR. Last year I ran this one in just over 1:33 and I was feeling much stronger than last year so I figured a 1:30 was realistic. And based on all the predictors out there, based on my 5k time I could do a 1:29 so it was pretty close. One thing I did do different was right before the race I programed my garmin to do the virtual partner and I set it for 1:30 for 9.3 miles.

The race started in the rain and we were off. I tried to stay slow at the beginning but I wasn't as slow as I thought I should be. So from there on I just tried to keep my pace below 10:00. I knew if I stayed below 10 I would PR so I thought maybe in the last couple miles if I had anything left I would just pick up the pace some. It went really well. I fell in to a rhythm and just ran a steady pace. Not slow for me but slow enough I wasn't breathing hard. I paced off a few people in the first few miles then saw some others later on that I ran behind and then passed. Annette was behind me all the way but I knew she wasn't too far. I tried to keep those good positive thoughts coming throughout the run, even when it was miserably wet and cold.

Just before the turn around I saw Bailey and a friend she was running with so I tried to catch up to her. She is a fast runner and we kid her about lolly gagging around. Well sure enough, they stopped in the middle of the race to look at what appeared to be a dead crawdad in the road! Irregardless, I never caught her. I gained on her a few times but then she saw Michele and she took off never to be seen by me again. I did catch Michele just past the boat ramp. She was pretty much done and was not feeling good. We ran together for a few then she told me to go on, she was going to wait on Annette. I did walk the 3rd water stop at about 5.5 so I could take my gel and get a drink. I didn't loose but maybe 20 seconds if that. By mile 8 my legs were getting pretty tired but I kept trying to push. Then just past mile 9 its the parking lots and you can see the finish line but you have to run around to get to it. Since I have ran this race the past two years I was mentally prepared for this but I was hoping that the finish line was different but it wasn't. I knew just when to turn it on and just before the turn to the finish line I started running faster. Baileys young male friend was right there so I really kicked it then passed him right at the finish line. Probably not the smartest thing to do with my foot but it was fun at the time!

Overall I was very pleased with my race and most of all the fact that I ran all miles under 10 other than one. Last year I think I had at least one mile where I ran a 10:46. Here are my stats and the final time is not official yet but it is what my garmin said at 9.3. I actually forgot to turn it off but the virtual partner stopped at 9.3 and gave me a time so that's what I'm using for now. The lap times are correct.

Final time - 9.3 miles - 1:31:39 (missed the big goal of 1:30 but still had a new PR.)
Avg pace - 9:51
Splits
1- 9:47
2- 9:47
3- 9:44
4- 9:46
5- 9:50
6- 10:06 (water stop)
7- 9:52
8- 9:56
9- 9:53
10- 9:48

It's not negative splits but that's a pretty steady pace all the way through. I have never done that on a long run before.

After the race we all went to the Hospitality House for the awards ceremony and also the 2008 Grand Prix awards. We found out there that two new state records were set for the 15k distance both in the male and female division. Talk about running with some talented people!

Here is a pic that Melisha's husband took of some of the Cabot Cruisers at the awards ceremony. The group racked up on the age group awards. The cups were the trophies for the race.




Tomorrows plan for me calls for a 2 hour bike ride. No running. Congrats to all that won awards and to those that stuck it out through the rain.