Today was my first race of the new year and I needed it in a big way. A couple months of crappy weather, traveling, and too many sub-par workouts had me wondering what kind of shape I was in mentally and physically. I got good answers to both of those today.
The Steilacoom races are a series of races in Tacoma that start in January and end in March and serve a prep for people getting into shape for the spring and summer races. They do "Ks" and "Ms" increasing from 5 to 10 to 15 to 20. Today was the 15s. I chose to run the miles instead of the kilometers.
I ran this race last year and won it in the last mile in a time of 1:20:17. That was in 38 degree weather with pouring down rain.
Today was glorious. Low 40s at race time but clear blue skies, something not super common in these parts this time of year.
The only downside to this year's race is that the men's field was not very strong and I knew I would be running alone. Oh well, I train alone most of the time which proved to really pay off in this race.
The course starts on the track at Steilacoom High School. After about 300 meters around the track you exit the facility and begin winding through neighborhoods on your way to the Fort Lewis Army Base where my dad served for four years when I was a young lad.
My game plan was to take the first two miles in 5:20s and then go 5:15s from there.
Mile one was short just like it was last year. I'm not sure why it's so hard for race directors to get mile markers right. they spend time and money to certify courses and then get all lax on the mile markers. But by Mile 2, and each mile thereafter, the markers and my watch were always within 1/100th of a mile.
The first three miles are rolling with a net elevation gain particularly in Miles 2 and 3. Right after the three marker there is a short but steep downhill where you give it all back. Fortunately, I remembered that this part of the course was coming because Mile 3 was a 5:28 and I wanted to get back as much as I could on the downhill. Mile 4 came in at 5:10 so i was right back on track.
Miles 4-11 I really settled in and got into a terrific rythmn, and hitting very consistent splits. Mile 12 is the inverse of Mile 4 which explains why that slowed down so much. But when I crested the hill I found i had a lot left in the tank. In fact, I finished the last three miles in 5:05 pace.
This was a huge confidence builder after a pretty disappointing series of workouts this winter. Not only did I win, but more importantly, I blew away my previous PR from a year ago on the same course and did it running entirely alone the whole race. The best part is that I feel like I could have easily done another 5 miles in 5:15 pace or better.
The 20-miler is coming up in mid March. I did the 20k race last year in prep for the Eugene Marathon. I'm not running Eugene this year so I may run the 20M and see if i can run it in 5:15 pace.
|
Mile
|
Mile Time
|
Cum. Time
|
|
1
|
5:18
|
5:18
|
|
2
|
5:20
|
10:38
|
|
3
|
5:28
|
16:06
|
|
4
|
5:10
|
21:26
|
|
5
|
5:13
|
26:29
|
|
6
|
5:13
|
31:42
|
|
7
|
5:08
|
36:51
|
|
8
|
5:13
|
42:04
|
|
9
|
5:12
|
47:16
|
|
10
|
5:13
|
52:30
|
|
11
|
5:16
|
57:46
|
|
12
|
5:27
|
1:03:14
|
|
13
|
5:08
|
1:08:22
|
|
14
|
5:11
|
1:13:33
|
|
15
|
4:57
|
1:18:30
|
| 