Rock'N'Roll St. Louis Race Report

Two straight weekends that I have raced and I have loved every minute of it.  Sure I had to travel a bit but it was worth it.  It just so happened that our race overlapped with the World Series which was awesome.  I was able to support my favorite MLB team in the World Series while in St. Louis, what could be better.  Maybe if I had tickets, sure, but I don't have that kind of money haha.

Anyways, ever since Competitor's decision to drop elite athlete support, I decided that I wasn't going to do any of their events.  Well, I had signed up for this race back in June on "National Running Day" since it was deeply discounted and Casey wanted to do a 1/2 marathon where we would both compete.  And it also gave us an opportunity to visit her parents.  So, no more Competitor races for me, but I did go ahead and run this one since I was already signed up.

My week going into the race wasn't the best training wise.  I felt a little sluggish and sore from the 10k the previous weekend and my "tune up" workout a few days before the race didn't feel very good.  We left for St. Louis on Friday, watched a lot of football and baseball on Saturday, and woke up super early on Sunday for the race.  Since there were no "elites" I wasn't sure how close I would be to the front.  Maybe a few fast locals show up, maybe no fast guys show up, maybe something I didn't even think about happens???  I knew that I was capable of running right around 1:12-1:15 depending on the day/course/etc.

Pre Race Pic about 10 minutes before the start.

Pre race, my In-laws really helped out with our warm up clothes, parking, getting up to the start line without any hassle what so ever.  They were a huge help.  Brad and Kim took our warmer clothes and wished us luck.  I stood on the start line for 5 minutes before the gun went off.  I made sure to be there on time, ha.  At 7 am, we were off.

I settled into my pace which is always hard to judge for the first 1/2 mile or so.  I ran with the 2 leaders until we hit the mile mark at 5:25.  I knew it was a little fast, but it felt good so I stuck with them.  After 2-3 minutes, one guy dropped back a little and the other started to put a small gap on myself.  We all kind of settled into our own paces and that is about how the rest of the race went.  2 miles was right around 10:55 and about 5 seconds behind the leader.

Cruising through the 5 mile mark.

I went through the 5 mile mark right around 27:55.  The leader had a larger gap now and it was only growing.  I held onto my pace and kept it smooth.  I went through 8 miles just under 45 minutes and 10 miles at 56:15.  My next mile was a little uphill but nothing killer.  I ran a 5:50 mile and got a little worried.  I thought the wheels were falling off and I still had 2 miles to go.  Luckily, the next mile was mostly downhill and I ran a 5:15 mile.  I settled back into my pace of between 5:30-5:40 miles and crossed the finish line in 1:13:28.  The winner ended up running under 1:11 so I was no where near him and third place crossed the line about 1 minute or so behind me.  Considering there was 13,000 people in the race, I didn't expect to finish in the top 3 but was happy regardless.

Coming Down the Home Stretch.

I was very happy with the effort and glad it was over.  Brad and Kim were right there to get these amazing pictures and hand me my warmer clothes.  I jogged back to cheer for Casey as my cooldown.  She ran a huge PR and then we had a HUGE Panera breakfast afterwards.  We laid around and watched the Lions and Cowboys go back and forth while cheering for our Fantasy football players and napping.

Sunday evening after attending the World Series Pep Rally.

Just a little Superman pose while at a Rest Stop in Illinois on the way home.

That evening we went downtown to enjoy some World Series festivities and then watched the game at a bar for the first few innings before heading home to get some much needed sleep.

Medical Center 10k

Well, now that the race results have been posted, I can reflect on my 10k from Saturday.

Overall, I am pleased with the effort / time that I was able to accomplish on Saturday.  I have always run pretty fast on that course considering the difficulty of the race.  My "official" time was 33:47.  My watch had me at 33:40.  How was it 7 seconds off?  Let me explain.

I woke up at about my normal time considering the race didn't start until 8:30.  I had a light breakfast, some coffee, and hung out until I was ready to head down to pick up my packet.  I parked, got my packet, and took off on my warmup jog at around 7:45.  After a good 25 minute warmup, I put my racing flats on, did some strides as I was heading to the start line, and got myself mentally prepared for the pain I was about to endure.  It was about 8:20 when I left my car.  When I did my last stride at 8:24 about 200 - 300 meters behind the start line, I heard an announcement saying something to the effect of "2 minutes."  I looked at my watch and double checked that I had over 5 minutes until 8:30.  The wheelchair race was scheduled to start at 8:25 so that is what I assumed was 2 minutes away.  I walked towards the start, saw an open porta potty and started to go in just to make sure I didn't have to go during the race.  Right when I made it there, I heard the announcement "20 seconds."  I look over and do not see a single wheel chair.  I quickly changed my mind about the porta potty stop and jogged closer to the front of the start area.  Before I got close to the front, the gun went off and everyone took off.

I was 100% warmed up, but just didn't expect the race to start early.  It took me about 7-8 seconds just to get to the start line before I was able to take off.  Another 5 seconds or so before I was able to get into an open area and then I was off.  I figured since it had chip timing that there would be a "finishing" time and a "chip" time so I wasn't too worried.  Well, after looking at the results, there was no chip time so I made a mistake before the start that cost me 7-8 seconds of racing time.  Whatever.  It's not like the guy in front of me beat me by 3 seconds.  He beat me by about 1:30, ha.  One positive to starting a little bit back was I was able to start a little more controlled than I usually do.

Seconds after the gun went off, the rain started to fall.  It was 57 degrees and calm when I woke up.  The temperature was dropping and now it was raining.  I worked my way through the field and by the 1 mile mark I was in 10th place (I didn't know that at the time) and about 5 seconds behind the first female.  She looked very familiar and I was about 90% sure it was Ali Morgan who I ran with at UK.  I decided I would use the 2nd downhill mile to catch her.  Well, she pulled away from me.  I was 5:21 for mile 1, 5:13 for mile 2, and was about 7 seconds or so behind Ali.  I caught a guy just before the 5k mark and going through right at 16:40 (on my watch).  I finally caught Ali just before 4 miles.  We laughed for about a 1/2 second since this was the first time I've seen her in a year or two.  We worked together to maintain pace for the next mile or so.  Going up the long, gradual hill that is the 5th mile, I did get away from her about the exact distance that I would finish in front of her.  I went through 5 miles just over 27 minutes.  We weaved our way around the football stadium and finished on the field.  I crossed the line in 33:47 (race time), and at 33:40 on my watch.  Ali finished just 9 seconds later and we had a good laugh about the race afterwards.

By then, it was pouring and getting colder.  I did a quick cooldown and made it back to the car completely soaked and freezing.  I have only broken 34 minutes for a 10k a hand full of times so I was happy but was secretly hoping to surprise myself.  There was no surprise.  I just met my expectation.

I hate standing around on the start line just waiting for the gun to go off, but I guess that is better then missing the start.  Next time I'll make sure I'm lined up in time.  Off to St. Louis this weekend for the Rock'n'Roll St. Louis half marathon.  Not sure how it's going to work out with the World Series going on but that would be awesome if I managed to get tickets for it while we are there.

Tony

Pre Race Bowling Green 10k

So I have been training consistently (and pretty hard) for that past few months (all summer) and am ready to put the work to the test.  This week is one of my least favorite parts of the training process as I have cut back on the workload and am resting a bit.  When I rest, I tend to eat more, which doesn't work out the best as I tend to cut weight and put on weight pretty fast.  Through the summer training, I have dropped from about 170 - 175 pounds which I was around back in March down to 154 two weeks ago.  Now, that was during a high mileage week and I'm back to high 150's with my rest this week and is a more maintainable weight for myself.  I'm sure once I rest after a few running races, I'll pack on the pounds with the lower mileage and the holiday treats, haha.

Tomorrow is the BG 10k.  I have run this race twice and they have been a few years apart every time I have run the race.  Some years this race has the top 10 guys all in the low 30's or faster.  Other years has 1-3 guys that fast and then a big drop off with maybe the 5th place guy barely breaking 34 or 35 minutes depending on the year.  It seems that the years I have run this race, it is always a fast year.  I broke 34 for the 10k distance the first time ever back in 2005 at this race.  I didn't even win my AG that year with that time.  I believe it was 33:51.  The next time I ran this race I was hoping to finish top 6-8 in the race and I decided I would do what I could to finish there.  Well, the lead group had 15 guys or so in it and they went through the first mile in about 4:45-4:50.  I went through the first mile just under 5:00 and realized I was in a bit over my head.  But it did help me break 33 for the first time ever and I finished 32:53 or so.  Not sure on the exact time but I finished 15th overall.

Over the past six years, here is the finishing time for the 8th place person

2007 - 35:20 (1st place female)
2008 - 31:22
2009 - 32:32
2010 - 30:22
2011 - 31:53
2012 - 35:06

This race is always very competitive and I am really looking forward to testing out my fitness.  I built a solid base over the summer months, and have had some really solid workouts as of late.  They have been a little more 13.1 focused since I'm running the Rock'n'Roll St. Louis half marathon next weekend, but I have had some really good 5k - 10k workouts as well.  I did 5x1k this week @ 5k pace and it felt very good and was a bit faster than expected.

The BG course is very rolling considering it goes right through WKU's campus and of course they are called the "hilltoppers."  The first mile is rolling but ends right on top of "the" hill.  The 2nd mile is all downhill running into downtown BG.  I have always flown through the 2 mile mark of this course.  My 5k split has always been crazy fast.  In 2010, I went through the 5k split just 15 seconds off my 5k PR.  I did slow down over the second half but had enough in the tank to break the 33 minute barrier.  I believe I did something similar in 2005, but I don't remember what my 5k PR or split was for that race but I know that I was close to my PR at the 5k split.

I'll post a race report Monday or Tuesday.  I love this race and always look forward to spending the afternoon after the race at one of my favorite places, Jackson's Orchard.  Nothing beats race recovery like snacking on caramel apples, hot apple cider, and apple pies with some ice cream on top.

Tony