Boulder Distance Classic: Race Report

The promised race report:

Before pulling out of my apartment complex, I double-checked the weather, and saw that it was 35 at 7:15, and was forecast to be around 40 and dry at the start time of 8:30. Duly prepared for the weather (or so I thought) I drove up to Boulder only to find, as I turned into the Reservoir, that it was snowing.

I parked my car at 7:45, thinking that I might be pushing it just a little, but still probably had plenty of time to get my number and chip, change into my shoes and long-sleeve shirt, stop by the Porta-Potty, and make it to the start line in time for the 15k start time of 8:30. 35 minutes later, at 8:20, I finally got my timing chip, and sprinted a “warmup” over to my car to put on my shoes, sprinting from their to the line for the toilets. At about the same time the gun went off, I made it to the front of the line, knowing that if I did not take care of business now, there was no possibility of running the race I had intended.

A minute later, feeling significantly lighter, I tore straight out of the toilet, up the bank to the starting line, crossed the timing mat, and started my race a minute-thirty after the official start. I realized then that, having no warm up, starting late, and with 200 or so people to pass to get to my pace group in the race, I had every excuse to lay back and either not race the way I planned to or drop out entirely.

I didn’t take the excuse. Late or no, I opted to run exactly the way I planned: even splits, sub-7 minute pace. And I duly started picking off the runners who started in front of me. For the first 3 miles or so of the race, I picked off hordes of runners, sometimes stretched 6 or 7 abreast on the narrow race course (running off into the ditch on the side at times to slip by without disrupting their races: after all, they didn’t miss the start, so why should they have to get out of my way?).

For these few miles, I concentrated on picking my own pace, and not getting over-enthusiastic passing others. After the three-mile mark, I started overheating, not realizing that, in my rush to the starting line, I had completely forgotten to take off my hat (a heavy-duty stocking cap with the Colorado Avalanche “A” on the front: a gift from my girlfriend). I dropped the hat off at the next aid station, and took off down Monarch road.

I took my first split at the 5-mile marker: 34:58, just under 7-minute pace. My legs still felt fairly fresh, but I decided not to press too hard. This was, after all, my first race in over two years.

I was fortunate in this race in that I knew nearly every inch of the course. Back when I was running regularly with the Bolder Boulder Training Club, now Boldrunning, our weekly long runs were regularly held at the reservoir, so I came to be very familiar with the area. In this race, that familiarity allowed me to perfectly parcel out my effort, so that I could run at a 7-min pace with the minimal effort.

The next three miles passed in 6:50, 6:55, and 7:03, respectively. Coming into the last 1.3 miles, I started to (finally) feel the pace, and the fact that this was the longest and fastest I had run in well over two years. My right hamstring started to twinge a bit, and I decided that, rather than make a significant surge, I would coast into the finish in a relatively leisurely 8:53.

Place wise, even starting a minute-thirty back, I came in 4^th in my age group and around 44^th overall. The winner and second-place finisher both came in under 50 minutes (I know where I stand in the relative rankings). The most important takeaways from this race are that my pacing at this time is excellent, my fitness is better than I could have hoped and, given the complete lack of speedwork or any sort of taper for this race, I ran a respectable race.