My First Boilermaker 15K

Friday, I picked up my number and goodie bag

There were a lot of interesting goodies in that bag.  One item kind of confused me.  It was the Crushed Red Pepper.  If you run, you realize why this would NOT be most runners choice of a pre race spice.  Even if you don’t run, you probably understand the consequences.  

There was P28 High Protein Bread.  That looked interesting.  Ted ate if for lunch.  Oh well…I’ll have to tell you about that when I get a sample.  Running Food.  This is a mixture of all things good for you and promotes Chia “the worlds healthiest whole food”.  This mix may be added to smoothies, shakes, yogurt, salad dressing…the works. Ribose for fuel.  Interesting but I wouldn’t dare try it since I’ve never had it before.  We’ll use that on a training run.  A Clif shot and a Larabar, lemon flavor.  There was also a 4 flavor variety pack of 4C drink mixes and a $10.00 off coupon for Dick’s Sporting Goods.   Not a bad catch for a quick 30 minute trip through the Expo.  I went early to beat the crowd.  Most vendors were just setting up. 

Dinner before the race.

Of course pasta was on the menu.  Ted had penne rigatoni with “Dino’s” meatballs and Victoria All Natural Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce.   I had Rice Spaghetti pasta with oven baked haddock which I shared with Shane.  The haddock was simply placed in a foiled lined pan, sprinkled with salt and pepper, topped with lemon slices and basil leaves.  It was baked at 425 F for 15 minutes. Perfect!

Ted and I both shared “Italian Blushing Pasta” which was a recipe for roasted vegetables over pasta of choice (Ted’s penne, my rice spaghet.). It is a recipe from “The Secret Ingredient” by Sally Bee.  I’ll post the recipe when I do the book review.

Reasons for eating what we eat

The night before a longer race (15K to half marathon), I will eat rice pasta, plain, no sauce but sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.  I have fish as my protein, baked with very little on it other than lemon, salt and pepper.  My dinner is fairly bland so as not to risk any stomach upset the next day.  Although I can eat wheat, I try to limit it the day before a race.

Sunday.  Boilermaker Sunday

Up at 5:30.  I had a banana with about 1 TBS peanut butter, some water and got out the door with Shane.  We jogged 2.25 miles down Culver Ave. and around MVCC.   The crews were out getting things set up along miles 1 – 2, the International mile.  It made me nervous.  Other years I watched and got excited for the runners and thrilled that I was going to see the first wheel chair cross the finish line. That was not the case this Sunday.  I would be one of those runners heading down the Parkway on the hot asphalt.  I was very nervous. 

Ted put his mountain bike on the car.  He didn’t want to take the road bike because of having to go over some grassy dividers and leaving it with the car downtown. He dropped me off, drove down to the finish, got on his bike, and tried to meet up with a friend.  They biked back down to the party where we re-connected at a predetermined location.

The Race

Ted dropped me off on Bleecker Street. The result was not a very close distance to the starting corrals.  They were directing runners around a long loop so it took about 20 minute for me to get to my assigned location. 

I looked toward the porta-potties thinking, “I should go”.  I saw another gal looking as well. I asked “Are you thinking of using the porta-potties?”  She said “Yes but I can’t tell if that is one huge line or not”.  I concurred and she said “Oh well. It’s probably just nerves.”  Neither of us went. It turned out she was right. Only nerves.

The race started. There was no delay as I had expected with the crowd.  We took right off.  The first 1 – 2 miles I thought “Do I feel dizzy?  Gosh No!  I can’t go to the emergency tent during the first mile of the race!”.  It was simply nerves. 

The music and crowds were great. So motivating.  My thoughts were that since I started with all these green bibs, I have to keep up with them.  Phew! 

Familiar faces were seen along the way.  I saw Ted and Gene with their bikes coming out of Valley View.  I waved like a maniac then thought “Geesh! I hope I shaved my arm pits?!”

I passed 3 wheel chair races which were having a tough time.  I offered words of encouragement as did the rest of the runners.

At Mile 7, a slight decline, I had to slow down.  I looked at my Garmin and it said my pace was 7:58.  I was tiring.  It was a series of speed up and slow down until I finally caught sight of the clock at the finish.  It read 1:14:49.  My legs took off. I was going to meet my goal.  I crossed the finish at 1:15. 

Garmin read 1:14 on the nose with a pace of 7.54.   Oh happy me! I did it.

For the past 2 days, I kept thinking of my goal time. 1:15.  It played in my head.  Just goes to show running is as much mental as it is physical. 

Post race pictures:

Ted’s son, Teddy. He didn’t want to touch the sweaty runner.

After having half a Saranac Pomegranate Wheat beer, we opted for a stop at Nail Creek.

The bartender poured half a BOTTLE of chardonnay into that big glass for me. I said “Whoa!” The bartender said, “you just ran almost 10 miles – you need it”.  Ok. Justified

The sun was shining a bit bright – hence the Teddy squint.  Ted had a great time on his bike.

I got compliments on my outfit… ”You’ve been passed by a skirt” written across my back. 

My aggressive goal was 1:10.  My “happy” goal was 1:15.  I made my “happy” goal to the tee, yay me! 

The paper reports the average median race time is 1:25:16 at a median pace of 9:09.  I’m glad I’m a bit above average.   I’ll have to report my O-fficial time tomorrow.  Until then…I’m celebrating with lots of food. Yum!

CNYEats A Taste of Utica to be posted Monday.

Joanne