Here’s the recap of race #2 in a series of three weekend
races, The River Trail 15k!
The River Trail 15k took place on Feb. 2nd. This was my 5th year to
participate in this race. I would call
this one of my go to races for the year.
I like the distance since it can be completed in just over an hour and
allows to pretty much go all out with maybe a little pacing strategy in
mind. This is also one of the first
races of the year, so it gives you a good chance to measure your current
fitness through the winter. The race
also lines up well with the Little Rock marathon and half which takes place the
first weekend of March.
The River Trail 15k takes place at the Burns Park Soccer
complex in North Little Rock. The race
is a fairly flat race that uses the river trail and a small sections of roads
in Burns Park. The weather for the race
was looking excellent as the day started.
The forecast was calling for temps in the mid-40s and clear sunny
skies! As I arrived at the race site,
there were some scattered clouds, but it was clearing quickly. My goal for the race was to average 7:15-7:20
per mile pace. I was hoping to beat my
PR from last year of 1:09:21. Below are
my previous results:
2009 – 1:17:40, 2010 – 1:10:14,
2011 – 1:11:38, 2012 – 1:09:21.
The race starts on the road next
to the soccer complex parking lot. I
lined up just a couple rows behind the front.
My first thought for the beginning of the race was to control my pace
early, so that I could push the pace towards the end of the race. The first two miles of the race run along the
road, before hitting the river trail. I
was able to hit mile one at a pace of 7:07 a little faster than I would have
liked, but I was feeling good.
 |
| Heading out - thanks Arkansas Outside for Pics |
 |
| Along the trail - thanks Arkansas outside for the pics |
Mile two
is still flat and by then I’ve settled into a pace I was looking for at 7:16
for that mile. Miles 2-6 were as follows
7:16, 7:16, 7:13, 7:17, and 7:16. My
strategy was that once I hit the 6 mile mark, I would feel where I’m at and
hopefully push the pace over the last 3.3 miles. I was feeling good and the short uphill and
back towards the finish. This part of
the course is overall downhill, so it gave me the chance to increase my pace
which able to hit the 7:12 for mile 7.
Mile 8 does have an uphill portion before the last part. I didn’t quite hit my pace for this finishing
this mile in about 7:22. Looking at my
watch with about 2 miles to go, I knew I could finish in around 1:08. Now’s the time to start to run! My legs are feeling tired, but I’ve got great
control of my breathing and HR, so I know I can finish strong. I’m able to finish mile 9 in about 7:03. As we approach the finish with about .25 mile
left, there is a man reading out the time. I reach him around 1:05:xx. I can make this under 1:08 maybe? Increase the pace goes through my head, push
to the finish. I can now see the finish.
The clock is ticking towards 1:08, I see 1:07:5x counting, run
faster! I reach the line at
1:08:02! A new PR, but so close to under
1:08!
What a great way to finish the
race and a great race overall. I was
able get 61st overall out of 465 racers. The most surprising part was that I finished
12th in my AG! There were a
lot of fast racers out there on this day that’s for sure. Last year, I was able to finish 6th
in my age group as a comparison.
Takeaways from the race were as
follows:
1. I
felt my pace throughout felt really good.
I didn’t do a full taper for this race.
I race 16 miles through 3 runs during the week with my Thursday run
being pretty fast.
2. My
training for the half is going pretty well based on the results for this
race. Over the next couple of weeks, I
need to focus on race pace execution. My goal is under 1:40 which I’m clearly
there now, and I’m right on the 1:35 goal that I have for the race. I felt that I could have held this pace for
another 4 miles if I had to.
3. Even
a after the race and the next day, my legs felt pretty good. The increased frequency of running for this
half marathon training has really helped with the recovery.
Well there’s my report from the
2013 River Trail 15k! Up next – Cadron
Trail Run Feb 9th!
No comments:
Post a Comment