Thrilled

This weekend I raced the Boulder Distance Classic 15k. Initially this wasn’t on my race plans for the years, but I heard about it two weeks ago and thought it would be fun. I had decided to switch my 50k the first weekend of May to a 25k after feeling like I wasn’t quite ready. After hearing about the 15k, I thought that would be a perfect pre-race race – run a hard run the week before a taper!

The Boulder Distance Classic is a new (2 year old), small event – and I really liked it! Nice t-shirts, easy registration, plenty of food afterwards, and fairly inexpensive. Saturday morning turned out to be awesome for running – about 45 degrees at the start, the sun was shining bright and no clouds. The wind was blowing all over and it probably affected the race somewhat, still it didn’t bother me. I’d had a good week of mix of rest and running and felt good.

For this race I wasn’t sure what to expect for pacing since I hadn’t raced since February – a half marathon – with no speedwork in between. My hope was to hold the same pace I held for the half marathon which was about 7:15/mile. This race was going to be a good gauge of what I’m at.

So, first the numbers and stats: 19^th place overall, 15^th place among men, 3^rd place in my age group (40-44). 6:10 first mile, 12:30 for two miles, 19:40 for 5k, 40:40 for 10k, 1 hour at 9.15 miles, finish at 1:01.50. Three watches at the finish had the course closer to 9.5 miles than 9.3. I finished with a 6:32/mile average pace, which would be a 1:00.40 15k. That’s a lifetime PR for the 15k and a 40+ PR for the 10k and 5k (best time over age 40). Wow! The race went much better than I had hoped!

As I thought about the numbers, I remembered something my friend Marty had talked about with races. That is, past the numbers, what he really wanted to know was “how did the run feel? How do I feel? Did I have fun and enjoy myself?” Well Marty – absolutely I was happy with the numbers, but thrilled with the race. I’m going to enjoy those PRs, who knows how many are left. And I just had fun pushing my body. The race is past already, even as I write this. I’ll enjoy it for another day or two. Then the next run will be here and that will be fun too! Thanks Marty for being the voice in my head reminding me of what’s really important.

So here’s a race report to finish this off …

The first mile was fast – a loop around the Boulder Reservoir parking lot and then heading towards the dam, including a slight rise. After seeing the first mile I thought I was in trouble – that’s a fast pace even for me. I just keep going with the pace (not sure about the intelligence or lack of intelligence at this point), so the first two miles was still fast, partly because of a good tailwind. Still concerned at this point and yet feeling good, I kept going since I generally trust my body to find a good rhythm.

Around mile 2 ½ I started to notice my breathing a lot – I was pushing it. It was all in my chest – legs felt great and forms felt good. For a bit I had recollections of a 5k last summer where I blew up after about 2 miles. I slowed just a little to settle in. At this point we entered the uphill grade following a water ditch with the water going the other way. I definitely need to push a little harder, but couldn’t tell how much with such a slight grade. Even through mile 4 I was feeling the effort and the discomfort still.

I mentioned the wind earlier. It didn’t seem to have a consistent direction. Every time we changed direction, I used the wind to help find my new pace. I never let it be a nuisance, just a guide on what was needed.

At this point we turned off the ditch to do an out-and-back on a road to make the distance. The out was a slight downhill with a tailwind so I ‘rested’ a little with some long strides. It wasn’t long after I turned onto the road that the leader was coming back which surprised me. I thought he would have been on the ditch again already. So I started counting – I was somewhere past the 15^th male. That was a shocker! Then the turn around and back to the ditch. Just before turning onto the ditch again I suddenly felt another energy – like another cylinder started to fire, or I had another gear, but suddenly I felt pretty good. Maybe it was past halfway, maybe it was knowing my place, I don’t know. I remember a similar feeling around mile 5 on the half marathon in February. My pace was still under 6:30/mile and only just past halfway – this was new territory for me so I didn’t want to push too hard, but I started to open up a little.

The end of the water ditch was the farther point north – time to head back south. As we headed south, I passed a large group on a training run. I was wishing them all well inside my head – no breath to spare here. The 10k went by at 40:40 – another surprise – that’s a minute and a half faster than a 10k a did last summer at the reservoir. Still 5k to go – well at more than 5k since my watch was never quite in sync with the mile markers. Around this time I could also hear breathing and footsteps behind me – two I think – and I was slowly catching someone. We had a good little pack to push each other.

I just kept flying along and feeling good. That extra gear was still running strong. Every once in a while I’d push it just a little to see what else I had, but I was at the limit. With a mile to go, the guy behind me came alongside and started to pass. Then we hit the little rise coming off the dam and back onto the road. At last year’s 10k this about did me in, not this time, I put in a burst with short steps and was through it easily and back in front of my chaser. Now just a half mile to go and a  nice little downhill to finish it off!

I can’t say I noticed much on the course, I was paying attention internally to my body – legs, breathing, arms. Keeping a good rhythm in the effort.