BQ by 40

I raced the 10 mile Hangover Classic in (East of) Downtown Louisville this morning. The forecasts were saying start temperature would be low 30s, but reality was that my warm-up at 9:15 was at about 19°F, and start was probably low 20s still. The course is amazing flat, with an average grade of about 1.6%. With the air temperature generally very cold, the race is about as fast as you can get.

Summary Data
Moving Time (h:m:s)	1:15:39	7:30 pace
Distance (mi )	10.08
Moving Speed (mph)	8.0 avg.	11.8 max.
Elevation Gain (ft)	+412 / -422
Temperature (°F)	28.4°F avg.	32°F high
Wind Speed ( mph)	SE 8.8 avg.	SE 9.2 max.

I set my Garmin to pace me for a 7'15" pace, trying to beat my Papa John's 10 miler PR (which is a little warmer and a little bit hillier with Iroquois Park in the middle). I struggled to hit 7'15" pace even once, but stayed below 7'30" pace until the wheels came off in the 8th mile. My legs had no kick left, and I had some major side stitches creeping in. I also managed to run the course inefficiently, adding about 0.05 from running wide on several turns.

Warm up:1.6 miles in 14:28 for a 9'01" pace.
Recovery: 2.51 miles in 26:28 for a 10'31" pace

I started the morning with a bit of a cold and my mileage has dropped off of late. Looks like I'll be looking at the Papa John's 10 miler this year to break the 75 minute mark.

Lap (#)	Time (m:s)	Distance (mi )
1	7:16	1.00
2	7:15	1.00
3	7:24	1.00
4	7:28	1.00
5	7:21	1.00
6	7:22	1.00
7	7:29	1.00
8	7:44	1.00
9	7:44	1.00
10	7:52	1.00
11	0:37	0.08

Elevation Chart:

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It's been since spring since I raced a 5k. I had forgotten how intense the burn is compared to even a slightly longer race, like a 5 miler. My target was 21:30, but lost a little bit of the mental will to complete the challenge mid-race, especially after going out a little too hard in the 1st 1/4 mile. Still, I was able to lock onto someone ahead of me the whole race for pacing and finally pass him just past the 3 mile mark.

The race course had +/- 100 ft of elvation change, which worked out to about 1.3% average incline. The course also had 2 turnarounds, which I think I managed to pick up some speed on.

My previous 5k PR, set at the Anthem 5k this year, was 21:54. I beat that mark by 13 seconds @ 21:41. Given that I've battled a couple injuries this year, and ran a marathon 2 weeks ago, I'm happy. For the record, that's 9 PRs this year, and my first race at a sub-7 pace.

I also took 3rd place in the 25-34 age group:



9 PRs this year, including 2 10 milers and 2 5ks.

1. Hangover Classic 10-miler PR -- 1:23:06
2. Anthem 5k PR -- 21:54
3. Rodes City Run 10k PR -- 46:26
4. Papa John's 10-miler PR -- 1:15:20
5. KDF mini-marathon PR -- 1:46:12
6. Flying Pig marathon PR -- 3:39:44
7. Hunger Relief Relay (9.2) PR -- 1:12:34
8. Home Run 5 miler PR -- 37:03
9. Santa Sprint and Stroll -- 21:41

1/4 mile splits:

Distance	Time	Total Time	Pace
0.25 Mi	1:33	1:33	6:12
0.25 Mi	1:40	3:13	6:40
0.25 Mi	1:45	4:58	7:00
0.25 Mi	1:46	6:44	7:04
0.25 Mi	1:40	8:24	6:40
0.25 Mi	1:45	10:09	7:00
0.25 Mi	1:45	11:54	7:00
0.25 Mi	1:46	13:40	7:04
0.25 Mi	1:47	15:27	7:08
0.25 Mi	1:44	17:11	6:56
0.25 Mi	1:47	18:58	7:08
0.25 Mi	1:40	20:38	6:40
0.15 Mi	0:58	21:36	6:27

Elevation: (flat like a treadmill)

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It's been a roller coaster year for my running. 8 PRs this year, including back-to-back 10 miler PRs (-10 minutes each time) and a PR by 55 minutes (3:39) at Flying Pig. Then came a rough showing (4:42) at the Hatfield-McCoy Marathon, followed by tendonitis and an SI joint injury. My physical therapy ended September 25th, so the Flying Monkey marathon came just 8 weeks + 3 days after physical therapy ended. I made it up to 50 miles for one week prior to tapering (40, 30 and 14 miles for the 21 days prior to Monkey).

We had a send-off for a co-worker (beer involved) on Friday, and then wine Saturday, so hydration wasn't optimal.

On to the report:
It seemed to take forever to get to Mile 2. This was no trick by the Monkey RD; my Garmin 305 confirmed that I was only at mile 2. There's nothing like wishing a MARATHON was over at mile 2. This feeling continued through mile 6. I managed to get a little benefit on the first couple downhills, but my joints paid a heavy price for the extra speed I gained. The downhills also caused so much friction that a large, heart shaped blister formed in the front arch area of my right foot. (The good news is, my forefoot actually went numb from the pain).

It was at this point that I resigned myself to slower marathon than I had hoped for that I started enjoying the scenery. The trees provided a nice autumn picture, the sun highlighting the trees at times. At each water stop I paused, mostly to rest.

By the second half, I couldn't control my stride enough on the downhills to get much benefit from them, and had some pain reminiscent of SI joint pain at mile 18, and had to walk the downhill. ...I had several miles in which I had to break stride and walk, principally miles 19-20, where the full elevation was scaled in two miles, mostly in 19. Amazingly, I had something in the tank left for the last two miles, and managed to get my second best marathon time (4:30:30) on minimal time to train after recovering froom injuries.

Due to the cool conditions, I held things together here better than my Hatfield-McCoy performance. I'm certain that a summer Harpeth Hills course would have been far more brutal than H-M. H-M has one huge hill and some relentless small hills. Flying Monkey has several relentless large hills:

Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s)	4:30:30	10:21 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	4:30:16	10:21 pace
Distance (mi )	26.10
Elevation Gain (ft)	+3,850 / -3,849
Temperature (°F)	46.4°F avg.	51.8°F high
Wind Speed ( mph)	S 6.0 avg.	S 6.9 max.

Elevation Data

Elevation Change	Total (ft)
Total Elevation	7,699
Elevation Gain	3,850
Elevation Loss	3,849
Net Elevation Change	1

Vertical Speed	Average ( ft/min)	Maximum (ft/min)
Ascent	14.2	288.1
Descent	-14.2	-219.0

Grade	Average (%)	Maximum (%)
Overall Grade	0.0	--
Ascent Grade	5.7	22.5
Descent Grade	-5.5	-23.3

Splits

Lap (#)	Time (m:s)
1	9:16
2	8:16
3	8:24
4	9:10
5	9:02
6	9:11
7	8:47
8	10:07
9	9:20
10	9:49
11	10:09
12	9:54
13	10:39
14	9:42
15	11:26
16	10:02
17	11:04
18	9:56
19	15:01
20	12:36
21	10:15
22	13:33
23	11:32
24	12:48
25	10:10
26	10:09

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I ran the Home Run 5 miler in Bernheim Forest this morning.

I'm pretty sure that I was first Yum team runner in. Couldn't quite
catch a female runner with a Swags sport shoes shirt on.

My time was 37:03 (7'25" pace). The race was a nice hilly course,
with very chilly air. I left my cotton running team shirt on over my
technical shirt the whole race.

My first two miles were run in the sub 7:10 range. Mile 4 had an
steady hill leading to the final turnaround.

The turnaround was 3/4 miles out, just below the crest of the hill. I
made the turnaround at a dead stop and wanted to curse the slight
uphill before the long gradual downhill towards the finish.

In the final stretch, 0.2 miles out, I passed the lead teammate and
pushed ahead, lungs burning, legs numb... and then it was over.

Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s)	0:37:04	7:22 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	0:37:02	7:22 pace
Distance (mi )	5.03
Moving Speed (mph)	8.1 avg.	13.5 max.
Elevation Gain (ft)	+416 / -397
Temperature (°F)	48.2°F avg.	48.2°F high
Wind Speed ( mph)	W 6.3 avg.	W 6.9 max.

Elevation chart (pretty flat in comparison my usual routes):


The award/bib:

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Update:
We won our relay (4 x 9.2 miles) by two minutes.

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Be careful not to take things too seriously in a race... and never, ever, try something new on race day.
Vaseline or gel?

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I noticed something this morning preparing for the race: I had received what appeared to be a seeded bib despite last year's 57:27 time in this event.

In registering, I'm sure I might have had some lofty goal such as 45 minutes... about 1:26 off my 10k PR... but nothing seed-worthy. I'm sure it was a mix-up involving people wanting to give out pretty red bibs with double digit numbers on them.

Of course, I didn't remotely think about lining up in the seeded area, but perhaps I should have lined up in the area right behind it--with 3,000+ registrants, there are a lot of downsides to being modest about your abilities when lining up.

Weather was periodic drizzle and mild.

I lined up in about in an area where most people appeared capable of a 7-8 minute pace, and set my Garmin 305 to pace a 7'25" pace for 10 miles (46 minute 10k). By the first 1/4 mile, I had fallen 150 ft off that pace, and rapidly lost ground until about 300 ft. I slammed my tender right foot into the ground stopping for a wall of walkers, and limped for a few paces until the adrenaline overcame the soreness.

I managed to hit 7:45 pace for the first mile, despite the crowd. The second mile, I went on a passing frenzy. By the third mile, I had very little left. I managed to push it the 6th mile to salvage a respectable time--47:47--1 minute and 20 seconds off my PR from the 2008 Rodes City Run. I should have lined up better, but given my ankle issues and lack of conditioning recently, a decent performance.

Splits from my Garmin (6.25 miles. That's either a very efficient run or a short course.)

1 Mi 7:45 7:45 7:45      
1 Mi 7:06 14:51 7:06      
1 Mi 7:55 22:46 7:55      
1 Mi 7:52 30:38 7:52      
1 Mi 8:05 38:43 8:05      
1 Mi 7:16 45:59 7:16      
0.25 Mi 1:45 47:44 7:00

Elevation Chart:

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Field Placement: 108 / 210 (51.4%)
Age group: 30 – 34
Group Placement: 9 / 12 (75%)
Gender Placement: 82 / 142 (57.7%)

I refuse to take this lying down, standing up, or anything in between.

I haven't finished in the bottom half of the field since September '06 (15k, 2nd race), 3 months after I ran my first mile EVER.

This is intolerable, even given the tough course, lack of rest, possibly tougher overall competitors... this was just an unacceptable showing for my conditioning level.

I don't care about the time. It's WAY more personal than that. My goal is top quarter in my age group. Next year. Period.

For this year's race, that would have been a 3:48.

This is not me whining. This is me finding motivation for the next 12 months of my running.

I have printed out my Run Entry for myself to stare at.

This will be the rottweiler at my heels whenever I think about walking on a long run.

I may have to sign up for Flying Monkey as a training race.

Labels: marathon, race report

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As for race report: My perspective will be tainted by the fact that my legs were still sore (hamstrings, gluts) from crashing into waves on Thursday and a 12 hour car ride Friday. All I had at the start was a 8'50" pace on the flat/downhill start. It got worse from there. My time was a painful 4:42 and change.

The big hill between 6 and 8 wasn't really an issue, but it took away what I had left. Down hill from there was steep, but also helped gain quite a bit of time.

The rest of the course was rolling hills forever, slick roads (from the incessant rain), and very nice scenery for my casual jog/walk at the end.

Motion Based Elevation Gain (ft) +3,877 / -3,869

Race Map:

Labels: marathon, race report

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