Race Report: Venice St. Patty's Day 8k

Venice St. Patty's Day 8k

March 19, 2011, 8AM

Sharky's on the Pier, Venice Beach, FL

Official time: 36:41 (7:22 pace)

Garmin (had race distance at 5.06 miles for 7:15 pace)

1st AG F30-34 (out of 17)

5th OAF (out of 168)- top 3%

20th OA (out of 281)- top 7%

This was a terrific race on a beautiful (but familiar) course.  Since this was also my first time running an 8k road race, it was an instant PR! Talk about low pressure! That always makes for a great run!

I had no expectations going into this particular race.  I had only registered for it a few days in advance and had basically decided that it would be a good way to get in a speedy workout as part of a solid week of triathlon training.  Since I haven't raced since the Disney Half, I also thought that it might help me to get rid of some race bugs before Nautica.

Pre-race

I had my typical oatmeal + coffee breakfast and was out the door around 6:15 AM.  Before leaving the house, I pulled up the McMillan Calculator on my computer and tried to figure "where" I should attempt to run an 8k race at.  LOL!  I plugged in my 10k race time from last October and was "told" that I was capable of holding a 7:32 pace for 8k.  This sounded reasonable to me, yet I thought that I probably wouldn't be able to hit it simply because I had already put in a long week AND I needed to be able to do a long ride + swim the following day.

I arrived at Sharky's on the Pier around 7AM, picked up my packet and then headed out to a vacant lot to warm-up.  I did a 1.5 mile warm-up with strides and felt pretty good.  After the warm-up, I stretched my quads, hamstrings and hip flexors for about 10 minutes.  While stretching, I took a good look around...

This particular race pulled a terrific local crowd with nearly 300 participants.  With temps in the upper 50s at race start, the weather was nearly perfect for a short race... and being that this is March in south FL, we natives know that morning temps in the 50s become a rare treat around this time of the year.  It was great to see everyone wearing their "Irish best."  I don't have a drop of Irish in me, but I donned my green as well.

This race course is particularly nice in spots with terrific views of the Gulf of Mexico.  The race begins at famous Sharky's on the Pier, circles around the Venice airport grounds, winds along the intercoastal waterway and then heads north along the Gulf of Mexico to the finish line.  I became intimately familiar with a portion of this course last year at the Venice YMCA Sprint Tri (where I completely tanked the run).  Although my one and only experience on this course was tied to my worst race performance ever, I was grateful to be somewhat familiar with the course itself... it's quite a twisty, turny one.

Race

Start time was 8AM; I would have preferred 7:30AM for slightly cooler conditions.  I lined up on the right hand side of the pack, second row.  I positioned myself behind a running club friend who I know runs similar paced races to myself.  She also races a lot more than I do and hence, I figured that she probably had a better grasp on 8k pacing.  The gun went off and I felt great.  I ran the first half mile way too fast, promptly got nervous and reeled it in.  I actually felt very good considering that I was running well under a sub-7 pace, but since I lack recent short course road racing experience, I didn't know what I could skate by on.  Besides, McMillan told me that I should aim for a 7:32.

Mile 1-  7:08

At the beginning of mile 2, I caught up to and passed my running friend and once again had thoughts that I might be going too fast.  I slowed up a bit more and then fell into pace behind another runner for the next 2 miles.  I still felt great... maybe too great!

Mile 2- 7:23

Mile 3- 7:20

I hit the 5k mark at 22:34 which is a new 5k PR for me by 41 seconds.  I let out an audible squeal when this happened.  I definitely did not expect a 5k PR during an 8k race.  As I watched Garmin tick past 3.1 miles, I decided to pick things up and pass the dude that I had been running behind.  I knew at this point that I could run the next two miles faster than the 7:20s that I had just posted.  McMillan had lied to me! LOL!  Runner dude held out his fist as I made my move to pass him and we swapped "fist potatoes" mid run.  I love that kind of shiz. 

The back half of the course had a lot of twists and turns and I had no idea how many women were ahead of me.  At this point, I could see only one... perhaps 1/4 mile ahead or so.

Mile 4- 7:14

During the last mile I passed three more men and seriously closed the gap on the one woman in front of me.  I think if this had been a 10k and not an 8k, I would have eventually gotten her.  As I finished up mile 5 (8k is technically 4.97 miles, but all of the twists and turns had me at 5.06 by the finish), I felt my legs getting heavier and heavier.  This bummed me out a bit because my engine was still roaring to go!  Over the past few months this has been a common complaint of mine-- it doesn't matter if I'm on the bike or if I'm running, I seem to be limited by muscular fatigue and not necessarily aerobic capacity.  I sure do wish one would catch up with the other.  Suggestions are welcome. :-)

Mile 5-  7:12

Cutest medal ever! Silver dollar sized!

I kicked a solid 6:20 pace for the last bit of the race and let out a loud "wooo-hoo" as I crossed the finish line.  Aside from the leg fatigue, I felt terrific!  There was no pukey feeling and I was talking to some club teammates right away... which means I still had some gas left in the tank.  I was elated!  Just like at Disney, I surprised myself!  This was another race done on unrested legs and I surpassed my expectations... and McMillan's as well. :-)

Cool Down

I grabbed a bottle of water and then ran another 2 miles to cool down.  What a great race!  The only real bummer was that I was once again my "own" sherpa and hence, I do not have lots of race pics to post.  At the awards ceremony I collected the cutest (and smallest) blue ribbon, shamrock medal ever! 

The Icing on the Cake

As if breaking a 5k PR in the middle of a longer race isn't crazy awesome in itself, how about having that exact thing happen twice in one race?

I broke my 5k PR for the second time in the same race on the back half of this 8k course.  If I were to break it down, I ran the first 5k in 22:34 (7:15 pace) and the last 5k in 22:30 (7:14 pace)!  I think I'm ready to run a sub-22 open 5k.  This has now become a goal of mine and I'm stoked to give this a go as soon as St. Anthony's is over and then hopefully I can put an "official" PR up there in my little PR box. :-)  I'll even lay out the super secret goal right now... by the end of the year, I want to collect a sub-7 min/mile pace for the 5k!  It's going to require some hard work and a good taper, but I know it's achievable.

A Look Back and a Look Ahead

The gang has put in some solid work over the past month or two and we are ready for the Nautica South Beach Classic this coming weekend.  I am not doing a full taper as I am considering this race to be a tune-up for St. Anthony's; however, I am taking it super seriously.  I'm going to give whatever I can possibly give and just see how it goes.  There are some causeway bridges to deal with as well as the Atlantic Ocean.  There are also 2000 people in this sold-out race.  That's a lot of participants for short course.  I'm really hoping that this race is not wetsuit legal.  It's too dang warm out to swim in a wetsuit and I always feel like I perform worse in a wetsuit than without.  We shall see.  I'm sure the officials will dig down 30' to take a temperature just so folks can wear their security blankets.  Sorry, wetsuit lovers.... I still love ya, but I promised to be more candid this year. ;-)

Finally, a new race has been added to my 2011 schedule... Philadelphia Marathon... November 20th!  My first marathon... finally!