My 11th boilermaker. (That's ridiculous, it's not even funny).
Year15K Total Time (pace)5K split10K split
2007chip: 1:54:48 (12:19)35:01 (11:17)1:13:16 (11:48)
2006chip: 1:48:40 (11:39)2005chip: 1:47:02 (11:29)2004chip: 2:03:53 (13:17)
2003chip: 2:04:51 (13:24)2002chip: 2:06:1820011:59:00 (probably chip time)200001:57:38 (probably chip time)199901:58:43 (probably chip time)1998Gun 1:58:54 (-0:04:30)1997Gun 2:01:11 (-0:05:30, i.e. when I crossed the starting line)
What's really not even funny is that I lost 40 seconds a mile, and I don't know why.
My weight is pretty much the same as it was the past 2 summers. If I'm heavier (which I doubt) it's apparently more toned... unless THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE is lying to me when suggesting, without any prompting, that I look smaller.
My first mile was ~10:40, so my pace rapidly degraded during the run. I didn't feel like I was running slower. I stayed more in the thick of the crowd like recent years.
I pointedly didn't even take a water break until after the 5K split. It still should've been 11:00 or less, dammit.
middle 5K pace -- 1:13:16=73:16, 73:16-35:01=38:15 (12:19)
I walked for less than 1/4 mile of the water station and initial uphill, slowed so my sister could get my picture, but then passed the 6 mile split before my second water break. I walked to Ice Station Zebra (They even had zebra print volunteer shirts this year), but was running again by the 10K split. I guess I slowed down more than expected while trying to open the halfway point popsicle. 2005 was the first year I was fast enough that they'd even have any left when I reached that point.
I can keep a 7.5 mile race to an 11:30 pace, if there's no major hills, so... I should've been able to keep this rating under 11:45 or 12:00.
last 5K pace -- 1:54:48=114:48, 114:48-73:16, 41:32 (13:22)
This is Abominable.
ugh. I think I ran (slowly uphill) until the first water station past the 7 mile point, and then ran solid to the 8 mile point, and, even if I did walk most of the last mile, it wasn't slow enough to drag down my pace that much. The slow uphill must've conditioned me down to a slower pace overall, and I failed to speed up on the down mile. Irksome.
One thing that may have slowed me down was that, despite it not feeling unusually warm for this race, it apparently was. By mile 3, there was a runner down every mile, and the first aid folks were actively assessing everyone as we ran by. I was reminded it was probably hotter and more humid than it felt to me. This likely slowed my pace.
It might've been girl cramps, which for me tend to manifest as non-specific nausea/malaise until it occurs to me that they could be cramps. Highly psychosomatic for me. The calendar suggested a worst-case scenario of the monthly crap starting mid-race, so I had to run pre-loaded for bear, as it were. Which inevitably turned out to be overkill. But by then, I was already in Cramp Brain.
So, I need to train myself back up to as fast, hopefully faster:
- lose more weight. (and I'm clearly at a motivational wall, so I need handholding here. HELP.)
- weekly timed training (treadmill). no matter how awesome the weather. I can't trust my own sense of pace outdoors.
- Hills. I need more hills.
- distance. I need to work on my speed at miles 6-9, which means I need to get to those miles more often.
- timed distance with hills, i.e., another 15K, or, more feasibly, a half-marathon. Ideally, one that happens between Thanksgiving and christmas. No earlier than the 2nd weekend in November. And, the dozen or so half marathons that happen on MLK weekend are Right Out.