Quite unusual for me, I was excited to run this race. Typically anxiety gets the better of me and the days leading up to race day are filled with dread and regret. This race was different. Sure, there was nervous anxiety but it was coupled with waves of excitement. Here’s how this race went starting from the Saturday before race day.
Saturday morning at 7 am I went for a 4.2 mile, or 35 minute, shake out run that consisted of 20 minutes easy and 3 x 40 second 5K paced strides with 80 second recovery. The weather was representative of race day ( cold start at 39 deg feel like 35 deg) so I wore what was planned for racing: long sleeve USATF performance shirt, side pocket Gypsy Runner capri, CX compression socks, thin Nike gloves, visor and head band for the ears. For running shoes, I wore old flat shoes that were donated at the race the next day because on race day, I wore Nike Vaporfly Next% (blue) and I always save those for race day so I can feel the cushy-bounce.
Ted was gone all day so I puttered around making breads, cutting up pomegranate, playing with the dogs. I didn’t eat until about 11:30 which was egg white mixed with red kidney beans and a little left over bread pudding. Had my feet up in the afternoon watching a movie. I mean, what else do you do on a cold, raining NY day? Dinner was risotto with peas and scallops. Simple meals, easy to digest.
We went to bed fairly early at 8:30 because we had an hour 15 minute drive to the race venue in Schenectady and bib pickup was about 7:30 am. Needless to say, it was a restless night but not as bad as some pre race night jitters.
Sunday – Race Day
The alarm went off at 4:35 am. Got up and drank a 5-Hour Energy, fed the cats, and then left at 5:05am for a 15 minute shake out run. The weather was cool but no wind or rain. At 5:30 am, I had 3/4 cup oatmeal. UCAN Energy drink was mixed to take with me for sipping on the way to Schenectady. I had a UCAN energy gel to take 15 minutes before the run began and a SIS energy gel for about the 4-5 mile point. We left the house at 5:50 am, made one stop on the thruway then got to the venue at 7:20 am. It was a gorgeous drive out to Schenectady, watching the sun come up.
We parked on Clinton St which allowed an easy walk to the YMCA to pick up the bib. Map of the course link: https://www.hmrrc.com/application/files/7415/7158/4056/NY19019JG_Stockade-athon_15K_Road_Race_2019-c_1Map.pdf
Porto potties were outside so I made my first of 4 visits. The last visit was at 7:55 when the line was pretty long but moved quickly. I stayed in the warm car until ready to leave for the race which was just a bit up the street. It was too cold to stand around so the goal was to wait as long as I could stand it without getting overly anxious.
8:15am I locked the car and walked to the start. My bib was #204 so I would line up fairly close to the start line. We were off at 8:30 am on the nose. A big downhill start which was a complete surprise and messed up my pacing strategy. My goal was to start slow and get slightly faster each mile. I just wanted my first mile to be the slowest and chip away to the end getting faster and faster. Nope. Splits: 7:39, 7:41, 7:52, 7:32, 7:46, 7:26, 7:42, 7:36, 7:25, 6:32(last .33) . The last mile is mostly through Vale Cemetery and Park.
At least I DID manage to chip away at my 5K segments which were 24:10 first 5K, 23:41 2nd 5K, and 22;56 for third 5K. My 10K time was 47:50.
I felt that I was going too fast right from the start and thinking I had to slow down. The course rolled with hills. A very long incline at mile 2. There were a number of turns but I raced the tangents well as my mileage to finish was 9.33. At the first 5K I thought “I cant’ hold onto to this pace for another 10K”. So I fluctuated with a faster mile, slower mile but still all under an 8 minute pace. I took my SIS gel at 4 1/2 because I thought the water stop was coming up. It did not, not until mile 6.
We turned into the park to run around the lake at about the 6 1/2 mile point and then headed up a hill at mile 7 toward the cemetery. About another mile then huge decent to the finish which I thought I would never reach as I was pushing the pace. It was great for a very fast finish down hill but I wish I had known course better.
3rd Age Group win.
I’m not coming off this race like “I’ll never do this course again”. Sure there were hills but nothing that took my breath and left my legs like jelly. This is a definite 15K that I would recommend.
Joanne
