Race Report: St. Patty's Day 5 Mile + 1 Mile

I woke up super early Saturday morning feeling very meh about racing. My knee had been bothering me, Toni was going to be out of town, and there was potential for some really gross weather to roll through town. Last minute, Toni ended up not going out of town, due to the really gross weather making its way across the state. YAY! I told her my plan was to head into town to get in a 3 mile warm up prior to the race. I'd decide to either skip the race altogether or just run it for fun, without worrying about a goal time, weather dependent.

We ran into Greg, co-owner of 605 Running Co. on our way out to run and he said that it was slick. Uff. Toni, Melissa and myself started out on the run, and it was a sheet of ice. We kept going in hopes that it would clear up, or get better, we attempted to run in the ice coated grass lining the trail. The most telling moments were when we would all catch a piece of extra slick ice at the exact same moment and shuffle our feet in unison until we had passed it. We turned around at .75 miles and I think our average pace was in the 11s. I told the gals I was out. I didn't want to risk hurting myself knowing that I couldn't race, and I'd be really mad at myself if I got hurt by my own accord, or if someone else accidentally took them down with me. They both agreed.

I picked up a coffee and high-tailed it back home.

Toni and I met up late morning to get in our 5 miles around town, determined to keep our mileage on track for the day. The roads were completely fine (as they were for the race as well, but we were set to race on a completely untreated bike path side note: yes I'm annoyed that the race organizers and director didn't bother to put down any salt along the path what so ever. A little bit would've gone a long way. We were told to "run at our own risk" via email at 4am). Rant over.

We had a beautiful little jog around town with some speedier than normal paces. And most excitingly, my knee felt fine. PHEW! Thanks to my massage therapist for my emergency 9:30pm massage on Thursday night! She's the best.

We drove into town, parked near the running store, and congregated in the store for a bit before our warm up for the one mile race. Ideally we could've timed our extra miles and warm up a little better, but I knew there were road closures that would make getting downtown difficult, so I wanted to be parked before all that happened.

Finally it was time to take off on our warm up mile, and we left the store with all the super fast runners from 605. As in, the team of runners that took first place as a male/female team in Chicago the following weekend for a really big 8k! The race route/parade route was already closed, so we ran along it with the parade goers cheering us on. That is officially the coolest I will ever feel in my life. :P

We got in another mile of warm up with 10-15 minutes before the race, to get our muscles warmed up. Everyone thought we were crazy for running in shorts and tanks, but whatever. We lined up near-ish the front, but as it was gun time, I'm a little annoyed we didn't line up closer. The gun was off and so were we! Some of us at a sub 6 pace. Oops. If you'll recall, my goal was to run really damn close to 7 minutes, if not under, so sub 6 may have been a bit ambitious.

I caught up to Toni pretty early on and somehow shouted to her to "get her ass going" and she took off like a rocket. Two of my running buddies who are pretty close in race times to me were right with me, and we took turns leap frogging down Philips Ave.

I tried to figure out how to lap my Garmin at every quarter of a mile before the race, and I couldn't do it, but my running log is amazing and did it for me. Wahoo!

First .25 1:30, 6:04 pace. Barf.

I didn't check my watch until about a third of the way through the mile, which was great. Hey, we're almost done already! I feel great! And then I remember shortly thereafter feeling pretty darn tired. HAh. I had warned myself prior to the race to not panic or freak out when it started to feel really hard about halfway through the race. A) you're hauling mail (that's what Kyle likes to say when I'm racing well) and B) the first part of the race is slightly downhill, so it feels SUPER HARD once it flattens out.

Second .25 1:47 7:09 pace.

The third quarter is always where I'd struggle in middle school when I raced the mile, I had hoped that I'd be able to stay strong and consistent with my pace, but I clearly did not. I lost sight of most of my running friends during this quarter as they pulled away and my legs mysteriously gained 900 lbs each.

Third .25 1:53 7:33 pace. gulp.

With the final stretch coming up I couldn't for the life of me figure out where the finish line was. I knew we had started a block closer than the previous year I did it, but since we were entering the falls, I couldn't envision where the finish line would be, and I couldn't see it. OMG I'm READY TO BE DONE. Luckily with about that quarter mile. to go I finally spotted the finish line and kicked it in to high gear. I flew by one of my running buddies and set my sights on another, meanwhile the clock was slowing making it's way to 7:00.

Fourth .25 1:45 7:04 pace. uff da. Max pace 5:18.

My Garmin clocked me at 6:56 for the full mile, but the official time had me at 7:02. I'm partially annoyed with that big of a swing, but I'm just choosing to take on the 6:56 as my official time. :) So that's a post HS one mile PR!!! Wahoo!!

After the race, we jogged a mile to cool down and then met up with our husbands to enjoy the parade and drink some beers. I love St. Patty's day!!

Race Result

Overall44 / 283 (15.5%)

Ages 30 - 3910 / 75 (13.3%)

Gender17 / 181 (9.4%)

First Race as a 30 Year Old

Wowsers, tomorrow marks my first race in the 30-39 category. *gulp* I absolutely love St. Patty's day and have run our local St. Patty's day race(s) for most of the years that I've been a runner (2007 5k, 2009 5k, 2010 5 mile, 2011 Irishman [5 mile, 5k, 1 mile]). I haven't done it the last couple of years for a number of reasons. The cost of the race has gotten really high. Most local halfs are $35-40 if you sign up by the early bird deadline, and the 5k and 5 mile cost the same as that.

One year that I ran the race there was extreme flooding, and the route wasn't changed, so runners had to go through mud that was inches deep, another year they started the route on a sidewalk instead of a road because they didn't get road closure permits, and with 100s of runners starting in that much congestion, it was a $#!t show to say the least.

I will say that this race does always have pretty killer long sleeve technical race shirts. They are some of my fave in my training shirt rotation.

This year, I'm racing a half in NYC the weekend after the St. Patty's day races. While tooling around on our local race schedule website, I found a Free Rebel Run planned for the same day as the St. Patty's day races. And it's free, as its name suggests. I convinced my friend Jenn to run it as well. Shockingly, the race day weather looks pretty great.

I haven't ran a 5k in...... over 2.5 years. Hah, and I know I won't be anywhere near a PR. But I would like to have a strong run that gives me confidence going in to my half marathon the following weekend. Since I'm hoping for a sub-2 slash close to 2 hour half next weekend, my goals for this 5k per McMillan race predictor are:

25:29 (8:12 pace) to 26:21 (8:29 pace)

As I'm seeing those paces, that doesn't seem like it should be hard, but my tempo paces have only been in the low 9's. However, after looking over my training log, I have had a set of mile repeats near the 8:30 range, so we'll see!

Regardless I'm excited to get out there in all my green glory to celebrate my favorite holiday with a hard effort run.

(OMG I loved those shoes. Fave running shoes EVER.)

Race Reports: IRISHMAN. St. Patty's Day 5m, 5k, 1m.

Saturday I was excited to partake in one of my favorite holiday's running events:  St. Patrick's Day!  Since I knew I was in no shape to race a 5 mile or 5k, I thought what the heck, and had signed up for the Irishman Challenge:  5 m, 5k, and 1m.  Originally I had planned to run the 5 mile at a slower tempo pace (8:30), race-ish the 5k (low 8's), and bttw mile time (hopefully sub-7).  After they revealed the course route, and I realized it'd be hilly, I scaled back my "goals" a little bit.  When I woke up to see the 30-40 mph wind gusts and 20 degree temps, I ditched them altogether.

I got to the race start entirely too early, as I didn't care to "warm up" in the freezing cold.  Instead, I stood next to a building that was blocking the wind with Tom and Sara.  The first mile went by quickly and I was keeping close to my tempo pace.

Mile 1 8:40

Mile two snuck up and I knew I'd be climbing for the whole mile. Into the wind.  And I wanted to die.  Eep!  After we made it up the hill, the half mile to the turn around was flat out brutal.  Wide wide open area head on in to the wind.  At one point some skinny minnie runner chick came up to pass me on my lefthand shoulder (what a b! I know... passing Jerbear.... didn't know that happened!!  jk) I had been fighting the wind so hard that the momentary reprieve she caused from blocking it for me caused me to crash in to her.  Oops.

Mile 2 9:38 (bahahhahaha, told you I hate wind and hills)

Mile 3 8:56

At the turn around I felt like I could jump in the air and land 200 yards closer to the finish line.  I half contemplated it, to be honest.   To give you an idea of the wind and effort levels for mile 3, I estimate that I was running approximately a ten minute mile into the wind (and felt like an all out sprint), so I had to have run an 8 minute pace with no effort with the wind at my back to get a 9 minute split.  Impressive.

During the 4th mile we got to charge down some hills which was a lot of fun.  I met up with a chick that I had been leap frogging with for most of the race, and we talked for a good half mile about running, what we have coming up for races, cycling, future triathlon and duathlon ambitions.  I guarantee we were THOSE chicks that were annoying people as we were shooting the breeze while flying down the hill passing people.  Oops.

Mile 4 8:17

The final mile had a little bit of a climb to it and another section in to the wind.  I tried to have a strong-ish kick at the end as there were a few people just in front of me with about a quarter of a mile to go.  Plus that's where Kyle was cheering for me, so obviously I had to pass people, right?  ;)

Mile 5 8:41

I finished in 44:12 for a pace of 8:50.

Field Placement:	98 / 213 (46%)
Age group:	20 – 29
Group Placement:	9 / 44 (20.5%)
Gender Placement:	39 / 124 (31.5%)

In between races a few of us Daily Mile peeps hit up the bar that was affiliated with the race (and also our regular Daily Mile meet up watering hole) to warm up and hang out.  Somehow I convinced myself that I should enjoy my free Irish beer now rather than before the one mile, since I was trying to race the one mile.  Before I knew it we were heading to the 5k and I had a nice little Irish beer buzz going on.  I didn't realize this was the case until Kyle was wanting to find a gas station bathroom to utilize at 11:11 (race started at 11:30) and I was all sorts of fine and dandy to accompany him.  However, when the clock struck 11:13 I immediately changed my tune and realized that I needed to be at the race right now!!!  Clearly my rational thinking disappeared within a two minute span.  No biggie.

Since I wasn't racing (and was borderline tipsy...p.s. not my fault 2/3 of a beer after running does the trick) I didn't pay any attention to where I had lined up for the race.  Ugh.  Big mistake.  The 5k is known for being the most popular race of the day and there were sooooooo many people.  The first mile was slow going.  Aaron caught up to me and commented, "Shouldn't you be up a LOT farther??"  To which I responded with my master plan, "Instead of racing this 5k, I think I'm going to ask all the under 21 year olds if I can have their drink tickets off their bibs.  Not like they'll be using them, right?!?!!?"  Jeri = genius.  Eventually I saw a little space open up for me to jet through, only to be caught up along the stupid hill again.  The path was super duper narrow, and the leaders were already coming back causing it to be even tighter.  There were parts of the uphill that I was literally running in place.  I would've been very frustrated... but meh.  Didn't really care.

The downhill was neat-o, but I was t-i-r-e-d during mile 3.  It was then that I remembered that instead of eating the Luna bar in between races like I had meant to, I had drank a beer.  Oops!  There were a TON of people that were catchable with about .4 miles to go, so I just haaaaaaad to kick it up a notch to catch them.  It's at this point in races that I convince myself that I'm still a speedy sprinter and can outkick anyone.  For some reason it usually works in my brain... who knows.  Right before the finish line I noticed a chick wearing an Ireland flag as a cape, and just had to beat her.  Thanks for the motivation wee lass!

I did 5k in 27:27 for a pace of 8:52 per mile.

Mile 1  8:59

Mile 2  8:46

Mile 3  9:00

.1 :38 (7:02 pace; 6:31 max pace, again, thanks Irish chick.)

Field Placement:	177 / 626 (28.3%)
Age group:	20 – 29
Group Placement:	25 / 151 (16.6%)
Gender Placement:	64 / 385 (16.6%)

Last up was the mile.  And I really didn't want to run.  I was freakin' tired, and freakin' crabby, and freakin' cold.  I owe Kyle a fishing trip for the amount of complaining he had to endure from noon to 2pm.  Oh, my warm up for the mile was jumping out of the truck.  Looking for Tom at the starting line, and waiting for the start.  Not my smartest plan.  I knew Tom would come in well under 7 and I had convinced him to race it so I had someone to chase down.  I was uber smart and switched my garmin to give me my quarter mile splits.  Genius, yet again.

The gun sounded and people were flyyyyying.  And I kept tripping on my windpants.  Why they didn't bother me the other two races, is beyond me (oh wait... perhaps it was the speed at which I was previously running..... :p).  The first quarter mile flew by as did the second.  Close to the halfway mark of the race I thought for sure the race was going to be short.  Short course = almost guaranteed goal time, so might as well ease up a little bit, right?  Running fast hurts.... at the 3/4 mark I thought for sure the course was going to be short and that I would be seeing my subway sandwich again very very soon as it had resided in my esophagus instead of my stomach.  Neat.

A young girl in combat boots who had stopped to walk around the 1/2 way mark came barreling past me.  What.  The.  Eff.  I tried to give it everything I had left without barfing, mind you.

7:14.  Meh.  It's no sub 7, but good enough.

Field Placement:	71 / 188 (37.8%)
Age group:	20 – 29
Group Placement:	4 / 26 (15.4%)
Gender Placement:	18 / 95 (18.9%)

On a fresh-legged day, I could do sub-7.  After running a hilly 8, not so much.  But it was a lot of fun and the shirts were pretty sweet.  We got a short sleeved shirt for the 5m/5k/1m and then a long sleeved shirt for the Irishman.  

Irishman Stats

Division Place: 23 out of 62

Gender Place: 23 out of 62

Overall Place: 64 out of 116