15 K chili run

Did a small local 15K race today as sort of a last hurrah before marathon training begins in earnest. Idea was to race it fairly hard and see what happens, using it as a gauge for where I am at with running fitness, at least at shorter distances. I can't believe it, but I actually won (http://www.drcsports.com/ARCHIVE/2011/ChiliRun.shtml)! I'm not foolish enough to not realize that the only reason that I won this race is because it was very small (only 111 people were in it) and because I live in Albany, Georgia (not exactly a hot-spot of top runners), but hey, it was pretty cool anyway. I'm about blind as a bat without my glasses, but never wear them while running - I always wondered what would happen if I ever did get out front of a race in an area I didn't know well and couldn't follow someone. Well, no problem today, as I had a police escort (I'm not so blind that I can't see a car in front of me!).

I as hoping to hold a 6:37 for the race, but would of been happy with 6:44. According to McMillans webpage, that would match up with a 3:10 marathon (if I had marathon fitness, which right now I do not). I started out pretty fast, but kept dialing it back to try to pace myself and not crash. It really worked out great and I didn't feel like I had completely burned myself by the end - if it was an A race I could of definitely pushed a little bit harder. It almost felt too easy at the beginning, but I settled in to a nice pace that I was able to hold fairly consistently. My left leg started bothering me by about mile 7 - not that I couldn't keep running, but it felt a lot better when I ran on the other side of the road (opposite the police car), but there was little oncoming traffic so it didn't really matter. When I hugged my family after the finish, I went backwards on he course until I found a friend of mine and then came back in with him.

I kept expecting someone to come and pass me towards the end, but the next person came in something like 3:00 later. It actually gets sort of lonely towards the front - I'm a talker when I run, although I do it less now that I've heard so many people hate it when people do (sorry non talkers!).

Overall, I did the run in 1:00:59, for an average pace of 6:33. Here are my splits from the race:

mile	pace
1	6:26
2	6:31
3	6:33
4	6:37
5	6:38
6	6:38
7	6:37
8	6:34
9	6:31
0.3	6:23

Here are a few pictures from the race as well. The guy with the 5150 shirt (to my left) won the 5150 triathlon championship in Iowa this year as a Clydesdale and will be racing the Florida Ironman with me next November. My other buddy is an improving runner who I'm really proud of. Our "trophies" were a decorative pepper/vinegar jar for me and bottles of hot sauce for age groupers. Goofy? Yeah, but the race was fun anyway!
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Congrats John. Excellent splits. Guess what? Now it's time to recover for a few days after that effort.

Excellent race -- bodes well for marathon training.

Wow, John - congratulations! And a time of 1 hr is excellent for a 15K, no matter that you were in Albany - you would have placed high in any 15K.

Big Congratulations! And I love the trophies. I could totally go for chili right now...

Way go John, that is a great time and a great result with an overall win. I can't wait to see you rock your marathon out. Happy Training!

Nice! Oh to win a race outright. Congrats on a solid pace and victory sweet victory! Savor it!

Awesome job! Congrats!!

Way to go John! Congratulations. That's an interesting looking trophy!

Randy E wrote:Congrats John. Excellent splits. Guess what? Now it's time to recover for a few days after that effort.

Ha - I would expect nothing less from the ironman!!! Thanks for the reminder!

Dave Wolfe wrote:Excellent race -- bodes well for marathon training.

Thanks Dave!

Michele "1L" Keane wrote:Wow, John - congratulations! And a time of 1 hr is excellent for a 15K, no matter that you were in Albany - you would have placed high in any 15K.

Thanks Michele - no complaints here, but I am just recognizing that if I lived in Atlanta, Chicago, etc. I wouldn't be close to the front. This may be the only chance I ever had, but hey, it was pretty fun!

Natalie wrote:Big Congratulations! And I love the trophies. I could totally go for chili right now...

Thanks Nat and yes, the trophies are "unique"

T Miller wrote:Way go John, that is a great time and a great result with an overall win. I can't wait to see you rock your marathon out. Happy Training!

Thanks Tim - I'm excited about the journey to the marathon!

fostever wrote:Nice! Oh to win a race outright. Congrats on a solid pace and victory sweet victory! Savor it!

Thanks - may never happen again so I will remember it!

Julie wrote:Awesome job! Congrats!!

Thanks Julie! Still waiting for some news????.......

Seth Harrison wrote:Way to go John! Congratulations. That's an interesting looking trophy!

Thanks Seth - interesting is one way to put it!

...6:33 (or so) was my FTP (1hr max) when I ran my BQ. STOP SAND-BAGGING YOUR MARATHON PACE.

That's really goddamn fast, John. You've come a long way in a very, very short time.

EDIT: Shit, how the hell did I miss that you won?!!?! I guess I got caught up in that pace. Man, that's awesome. Way to go.

That's really great! How fun to win the whole thing!! Congrats!

Congratulations on the overall win, John! Well done race!

No announcements from me yet

Cool that guy next to you has a Hy-vee shirt on, that's a midwest grocery store based in Iowa. They do a triathlon every summer in IA.

I was going to check our city's 15K results to prove that you would win that one too but they renovated their website and don't have old results posted yet.

I am curious why you say you're not in marathon shape because I agree you should be able to run a quite fast marathon with a 15K like that.

Mike MacLellan wrote:...6:33 (or so) was my FTP (1hr max) when I ran my BQ. STOP SAND-BAGGING YOUR MARATHON PACE.

That's really goddamn fast, John. You've come a long way in a very, very short time.

EDIT: Shit, how the hell did I miss that you won?!!?! I guess I got caught up in that pace. Man, that's awesome. Way to go.

I should also have mentioned that when I ran my 3 hr marathon races, my 15K time was around 1 hr. You are ready - we need to work on your running confidence.

Great race, John, and certainly a confidence boost as you transition into marathon training.

Now the real fun starts....

WOW! That's something I'd love to experience someday. Did they have a tape for you to bust through? 1:00:59 is a very impressive 15K time. Points to a sub 3:05!! And if you've got that kind of fitness already for 15K, marathon at BQ pace will be very very doable once you add the long runs. You are going to be set. I'd better get out there pounding the roads because I'm about to get passed!

Mike MacLellan wrote:...6:33 (or so) was my FTP (1hr max) when I ran my BQ. STOP SAND-BAGGING YOUR MARATHON PACE.

That's really goddamn fast, John. You've come a long way in a very, very short time.

EDIT: Shit, how the hell did I miss that you won?!!?! I guess I got caught up in that pace. Man, that's awesome. Way to go.

Thanks Mike - that made me laugh - I'm not sandbagging, just afraid. Very afraid....

Peg Coover wrote:That's really great! How fun to win the whole thing!! Congrats!

Thanks Peg!

Jerry wrote:Congratulations on the overall win, John! Well done race!

Thanks Jerry - but I most certainly wouldn't of won if Jerry was running it!!!

Julie wrote:No announcements from me yet

Cool that guy next to you has a Hy-vee shirt on, that's a midwest grocery store based in Iowa. They do a triathlon every summer in IA.

I was going to check our city's 15K results to prove that you would win that one too but they renovated their website and don't have old results posted yet.

I am curious why you say you're not in marathon shape because I agree you should be able to run a quite fast marathon with a 15K like that.

Thanks Julie - what I mean is that I don't feel like I'm ready to hold a "predicted marathon pace" for 26.2 miles - not even close. But, I'm working on it and hopefully can get there!

Michele "1L" Keane wrote:I should also have mentioned that when I ran my 3 hr marathon races, my 15K time was around 1 hr. You are ready - we need to work on your running confidence.

That's encouraging - I'll get some confidence if I can have a decent marathon this time around!

Dave-O wrote:Great race, John, and certainly a confidence boost as you transition into marathon training. Now the real fun starts....

Here we go!

Chris M wrote:WOW! That's something I'd love to experience someday. Did they have a tape for you to bust through? 1:00:59 is a very impressive 15K time. Points to a sub 3:05!! And if you've got that kind of fitness already for 15K, marathon at BQ pace will be very very doable once you add the long runs. You are going to be set. I'd better get out there pounding the roads because I'm about to get passed!

Pass you? Yeah right, that's funny . No tape to bust through - my finish was much less dramatic than this:

I always wondered if that Lasalle Bank logo on the road at the finish contributed since the rain that day could have made it slick? He did suffer a concussion if I remember right.