Heart Mini '08 - 2 Beats

So often when I finish a race and have done well I temper my enthusiasm with little put downs that keep me from getting really excited about what I've accomplished. I did really well in that 5k, but if I would have just started out a little slower, or if I would have just not slowed down that second mile I could have run just that much faster. Following which begins the laundry list of items that I will do differently next time. It's a disease. Very rarely do I think that I did the very best that I could do during that race on that day. The Mini-Heart Marathon on Sunday was one of those rare exceptions. I know to my core that I did the very best that I could do on Sunday, and I am completely happy with the results without reservation. I have no laundry list of improvements to make for the next race or next year when I run this race again. I am totally happy.

This is the first time I've ever run the "2 Beats" category. The 2 Beats is actually 2 races. You run the 5k race at 9 am and the 15k race at 10 am. You get a time for each race and a combined time for both races. I wasn't really running both races full on. I wanted to use the 5k as a warm-up of sorts and concentrate on the 15k. I've got another 5k coming up in April and this hilly course is never going to be a PR course for the 5k. However, this is the only 15k that I run during the year, so it could very well be a PR day for that distance. Here is a quick recap of both races.

I met up with my work running group before the 5k and lined up with them. The plan for Dave and myself was to run a fairly easy 5k and keep the pace at about an 8 minute/mile. It wasn't going to be easy because we are both a bit competitive and tend to push each other on training runs. I've had far faster training run times this spring than I ever have. I'm hoping it will pay off come marathon time. It definitely paid off today. From the sound of the gun the 8 minute/mile plan was dust. The pace came easy and the cool, cloudy day was very helpful. I broke a sweat somewhere around mile 1 as we joked that I might need to grab some water to replace my bead of sweat that I lost in fluids.

Somewhere around mile 2 we came up on a pint sized runner that had been ahead of us the entire time. I asked him what grade he was in to which he replied "6th grade" and followed up by asking him if this was his first race to which he replied "nah, I run cross country". I think Dave felt threatened because he pushed the pace up a bit...or maybe that was me. We cruised through the third mile and into the home stretch feeling comfortable. Dave sprinted the last 25 yards to beat a tall, lanky 15 year old girl...and I thought I was competitive. I finished up the 5k at 23:27 which is a 7:32 pace, which is slightly faster than we had intended. All is well though I was feeling good.

Official Time: 23:27
Pace: 7:32
Overall: 132/1535
Sex Pl: 119/750
Div Pl: 13/87

I jogged to my car to change clothes. I ran the first race in running pants and a fairly thick running shirt to keep warm on the cool morning. I definitely worked up a sweat in the last couple of miles and felt the sweat cooling starting to chill my skin. I didn't need that. I wanted to be dry and comfortable, which is why I came prepared. I changed into my Race Ready shorts and a lighter long sleeve running shirt. It wasn't warming up quite as much as they had predicted as heavy clouds still hung around threatening rain at any moment. Fresh clothes and a banana and I was ready for the main event.

The size of the field had doubled for the 15k..almost literally. There were 1535 finishers for the 5k and 2926 finishers for the 15k. Luckily the road was wide and the race longer. We would have plenty of opportunity to get out wide around the crowd, or make up time if we couldn't. We lined up somewhere in the middle of pack on the edge. Far enough up to get in front of the runners that would be slower than us, but not so far up that we would get swept up in the mania of a sprint start. That would be bad.

The gun went off and once again Dave and I were striding away from the start line. This time we had a goal in mind: 7 minute/miles. That would mean we were looking to cover our 9.3 miles in 1:05:14. That is a full 5 minutes and 4 seconds than my finish last year. 5 minutes and 4 minutes may not seem like a lot in normal human time, but in runner's time that's pulling about 30 seconds off each mile that I run. I had my doubts especially with the specter of Torrence hill looming over mile 6. Now you may not know what I'm talking about, but the course starts in downtown Cincinnati and is an out and back on one of the routes out of the city. It's a very hilly course with a mean little trick at mile 6. After you turn around to take the seemingly straight shot back into the city you make a sudden right hand turn up a nice steep hill for about a 1/4 of a mile. I'm betting it is a very sad moment for a lot of first timers.

The first 5K was flawless with a time of 21:41. We were cruising along nicely now a little ahead of schedule. Of course that's the easy part. Somewhere between mile 4 and mile 5 Dave started to feel a little bad. He was getting some tightness in a calf. We slowed the pace a little bit. No big deal we had a good 20 second cushion. Miles 4 and 5 were at about a 7:20 pace and Dave wasn't feeling any better. He decided to slow down a bit and try to work out the calf. I pushed on ahead. I was feeling very, very good. I had a little tightness in my left calf, but it was completely manageable. Everything else was going exactly as planned. As I pulled away from Dave I got a little nervous. He's a talker when he runs, so it makes the miles go by very quickly and easily. Suddenly I was by myself.

I spent the first part of mile 5 collecting my thoughts. I concentrated on my breathing for a little while and checked my watch. If I could get up and down Torrence without losing too much time I could actually pull it off. The final mile or so was a downhill stretch into the city. I made the right turn and pushed up the hill. I shortened my strides, concentrated on breathing and tried to keep from blowing up. Some were pulling ahead of me, others were falling back and a few weren't even going to challenge the hill and walked. I kept saying to myself that I wasn't going to win the race on this hill, but I could lose it if I pushed too hard. I chanted to myself in the final push to the turn around "I'll make it up on the downhill, I'll make it up on the downhill" and I was around and the cone and striding back down the hill. The 6 mile mark was near the bottom of the hill where we would turn back toward the city. I looked at my split for mile 6 in a little bit of disbelief...6:58. In that moment I knew that this was a PR day.

Mile 7 flew by in a blur as I collected myself after the hill and began to make plans for my final break. The fact that I was even thinking about a final break got me excited. The only thing standing between me and my goal was one last hill in mile 8 then it was a straight downhill shot into the city and a final sprint to the finish. Did I have a sprint left in me? No doubt.

I picked up the pace to hit mile 8 with a 6:38. Fantastic. Mile 9 was steady with a 6:52. Perfect. This was the final push from the edge of the city on a flat, straight finish. I sprinted. This was .3 miles. This was slightly longer than my Yasso's that I've been doing for 6 weeks. I focused on the person up ahead of me and pushed harder. I only had a few minutes left and I can see the finish line. I passed the runner and picked up on the next person ahead and bared down. Every muscle in my body was screaming and I was breathing very hard now. It didn't matter the finish line is closer, and closer, and there. I raised my hands as I crossed the line in triumph. It was a moment of triumph. I had caught a glimpse of the clock as I was coming to the finish line. I knew I was just over 1:05. I was shaking from head to toe from the effort and felt like I was going to puke. That is the sign of a good race!

The miles went like this: 7:05, 7:06, 6:32, 7:20, 7:20, 6:58 (the hill), 7:02, 6:38, 6:52, 2:09 (.3 sprint to the finish)

Official Time: 1:05:05
5k Split: 21:41
10k Split: 43:43
Overall: 163/2926
Sex Pl: 146/1512
Div Pl: 23/211

Finally 2+ years of blogging these events pays off. I was able to go back and look at the last two years of running the Mini-Heart and see just how far I've come. Two years ago I was psyched to run an 8:30 pace. How sweet is that? Check it out.