I killed this morning's 15K. Weather was not as nice as it was Saturday's 60F, we started at 73F, 67F dew point and finished in 75F at 68F dew point. Not exactly ideal running weather. Combine it with 14mph gusts on the way back. I wasn't sure how it was going to go with the temperature being mid 70s but I figured I'd still give it my best effort and see what I can do.

5K and 15K started together so it was crowded and fast. First mile split was 5:54 which was way too fast for this run. I knew it and I tried to slow it down but it's tough with the 5K crowd around you. Mile 2 was 6:12 which was better but I was still banking. We all know there is no such thing, it's just stupidity. But I felt good. I mean why wouldn't I? I was only 2 miles into the run. By mile 3 I slowed to 6:16 which I thought was a sustainable pace. A guy passed me who I knew was good for 57:00 (he's my AG nemesis who beats me every time) so I felt solid on my pace choice. First 5K was 19:03 which is actually a PR if I don't count that 18:13 that I ran on a mostly downhill course last May.

Mile 4 was 6:20 and I felt things were going well. I picked off two guys and I was motoring along just fine in a position that I thought was somewhere around 15th or so. Mile 5 was 6:32. I thought it was rough but the time I gave up was due to two steep inclines over the levies that we had to climb. My pace dropped to 8:30 on them. As I passed mile 5 the lead guy just passed mile 6 coming back already. Mile 6 was 6:26 which I felt was still pretty solid and I was still running my target pace. 10K time was 39:05 which is a new PR for me any way you slice it. And all I had was another 5K which if I could run under 20:55 i was going to meet my goal of sub 1hr for the 15K. I was hoping I could do it but the weather was pretty brutal by now. The sun was out the wind was blowing in my face which felt good but also felt like something I did not want to fight at this point. All in all I was hopeful but I knew that there was no room for slacking.

Mile 7 was 6:32 with the same two levies that I climbed on mile 5. I felt good about the time. Mile 8 was 6:32. I was getting really tired but I knew that unless I really bonked I was going to get my target time of sub 1hr. I knew that I just had to finish this race not necessarily finishing it strong. Mile 9 was rough. I found myself running close to 7 minute pace on two occasions and I really had to force myself to pick up the pace. Then there was a brutal killer climb over the levee again, the last one to get back over to city streets, and I was climbing at a miserable 9:30 pace up the gravel. I felt like I was going to fail at this point. Coming off the levee I glanced at my watch and I was running 6:20s again so I was still hopeful but I was really looking forward the finish. Mile 9 was 6:44. I knew that I had another 0.32 miles to go and when I looked at the time on my watch it showed 57:30. I tried to do math in my head to see whether I still had a chance at meeting my goal but math was really hard. I couldn't deal with the fractions and splits so I decided that I would just run and worry about the time later. There was not a darn thing I could really do anyway at this point, the race was over. My pace was surging, tried to kick it several times to maintain the pace with little success. I got a good cheer from my long run running group as I ran past the storefront, I gave them a weak wave and kept motoring towards the finish. Once I turned the last corner I saw the big clock showing 59:05. I hoped that the last stretch would not take me a minute and I kept picking up pace until I got under 6:00/mile and then for the final stretch I was sprinting through the finish at 4:57/mile. Official time: 59:30.7, 6:21/mile pace. I was on cloud nine!

I wanted to achieve 3 things: finish under an hour, place in my age group and finish in top 10. I did manage to squeeze under the hour with a great effort and my most even pacing ever (I pretty much bonked at my last half marathon and 25K races), I got 3rd place in my age group out of 31 and I came in 14th out of 564. I didn't get the last goal but two out of three isn't bad. What I didn't realize at the time is just how close the 4th placer in my age group was. He ran 59:34.2 and was right on my heels at the end. It was a pretty close race but I didn't even bother looking back I was so busy concentrating on my time and finishing strong.

So there you have it. My 15K was a success by all accounts, my legs while felt tired were good enough to go sub 1 and they were good for a 3 mile cooldown run afterward which is something I never had the energy to do after anything longer than a 5K before. My AG nemesis ran 58:34 and finished 2nd in the AG.