39-41 degrees | felt like 32-34 degrees | 13 MPH NNW | light rain
Possibly only in Minnesota can 15K + May = hypothermia. Just like last year, it was cold and rainy for this race after a period of warm weather. This year, however, it was much colder and the rain was more constant.
I tried to find a good spot to line up, but it's hard when people don't line up correctly. Despite only being a few rows back from the line, I still had to dodge a bunch of people. I tried to start off at a good pace, but was disappointed at my first mile split (7:42). I actually said "oh crap" as I passed the mile mark. Since I'd averaged 7:44/mile at last month's 20K I had hoped to run under 7:40. Of course, having not done any speedwork of any kind I didn't know if that was a reasonable goal or not.
Anyway, I thought I picked up my pace for the second mile, so I was surprised to see an identical split time. By this point, we were a little more spread out and I ran parts of the next mile alone. I think that somewhat accounts for the slower split (7:51). I managed to pick up some time in the next mile (7:48). I had skipped the first water station (before 2 miles, I think) but had thought about getting some water at the second (somewhere nearish 4, I think). But they had both gatorade and water, and the volunteers weren't calling out what they had. I'm not a huge gatorade fan, so I only wanted water. After I'd passed, one of the volunteers did call out which side was which drink, which wasn't too helpful at that point. I appreciate that they were out volunteering in the rain, but that was kind of annoying.
In the fifth mile, I started catching up with people. The faster runners started coming back (the course is basically an out and back), so I was able to start counting the women ahead of me. I hit the turnaround in 7th place, but noted that there were 2 women not that far back from me. That served as good motivation to start moving a little faster (split of 7:41). It also helped that I'd started running with a man named Stan, who had been running faster than me. (Almost every other group of people we passed after the turnaround cheered for Stan, which is how I know his name. I commented that he had a lot of fans).
I really started moving in mile 6 (7:26). One of the women I'd been ahead of (the track club president, actually) had started moving up and I didn't want to get passed. I started picking it up any time I thought she was gaining ground. At one point, she did call up towards me to ask if I was in the 40 AG. After I said no, she said something about that being good, she wasn't going to try to work to pass me.
We stayed pretty close together for awhile. At one point, I looked at my watch and it read that we were past the 7 mile mark. I was a little confused, since I didn't remember seeing a sign. I asked the prez if she'd seen one, and she confirmed that we should've passed one but hadn't. The sign did appear a little while later, but I didn't hit the split button since I thought it was off. (My GPS didn't work too well overall, though. Apparently the clouds, rain and trees were enough to confuse it and it did add an extra 0.4 miles to the total distance).
Prez made a move sometime after the 7 mile mark, but I wasn't able to keep up. She was really moving. I hit the 8 mile mark at 1:01:23 (15:09 split for 2 miles) and started doing quick math. I thought I'd run 1:11:11 last year, so I knew I needed to get my butt back in gear. Mile 9 was kind of rough, as I started cramping on my right side. My breathing had been kind of heavy in the middle miles, and I think that was catching up. My legs weren't too tired, but I was getting pretty uncomfortable with the side cramp. I hit the 9 mile mark (7:39) and was gaining ground on a different woman (prez was too far out of reach). I tried to catch up to her, but the end is kind of weird. You have a long straightaway followed by a sharp left turn onto a wooden bridge. With the rain, the bridges were a little slippery. I managed to close the gap to 8 seconds, but she had a better finishing kick than I did.
I felt nauseated for a few seconds, and headed over to find the gatorade table. (I may not like to drink the stuff while running, but it's pretty good afterwards!) I also got a cookie, and went to chat with my Speed Demon co-worker. He'd won the accompanying 5K, and was waiting for the awards. My hands were kind of frozen and I wasn't able to open the gatorade, which was sad, so SD opened it for me. (I had worn gloves, but I kept taking them off as my hands were overheating). They announced that the 5K awards were still going to be awhile, and I decided I really should go put some pants on. (I had raced in shorts and a long sleeve shirt).
I changed into a dry shirt, put on a sweatshirt and pants, and changed into dry socks and shoes. SD had left by this point, so I got another cookie and kind of hung around. I was really cold, and caught myself shivering several times. I saw the 5K awards, and after awhile went to inquire about when the 15K awards might be. The RD said it would be awhile, but that they would mail awards if people didn't want to stay. I thought about staying or maybe getting a (free) massage but the shivering/teeth chattering told me to just go home. The results get posted on the web fairly quickly anyway.
After being disappointed in being 13 seconds slower, I was very pleased when I was comparing my splits and realized that I'd actually run 1:11:30 last year so I'd PR'd by 6 seconds. I wish I'd run a faster first half, but it was a pretty decent effort.
1 | 7:42
2 | 7:42 | 15:25
3 | 7:51 | 23:17
4 | 7:48 | 31:05
5 | 7:41 | 38:47
6 | 7:26 | 46:13
8 | 15:09 | 1:01:23 (7 mi mark misplaced)
9 | 7:39 | 1:09:02
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Spring Classic 15K | 1:11:24 | 7:40/mi.
8th OA Female
2nd 20-29F