Race Report: Gate River Run 15k

Holy wind and chafing, Batman.

58:44 15k

(18:34)(37:57/19:23)(58:44/19:45)

For a “non-runner” this was a good day out. Maybe I need to stop saying that I’m a non-runner? Running has never come as easy for me as it seems for others, but this day was different. Running felt smooth, comfortable, and, dare I say, easy? It was a good feeling, honestly. Above all, I was really pleased with how this race seemed like a good indicator of my fitness. I can’t say I was super “fresh” going into this, but I felt “sparky” from the start.

My race strategy was mostly “let’s see what happens if you try to go fast right away”…and it seems to have worked. In races this big (8000+ despite a “reduced field”), it’s hard to tell who you’re running next to. Are you running next to someone who only has 5k in their legs? Or are you running next to someone who is going to pin the last 5k at 5:00 pace? You just never know. So, I started out at a pace that felt fast, but felt moderately conservative - after all, this race is an hour-long on a good day. At least, that’s what my goal was: to go under an hour. Each time check (which there were fewer than I remember from years past), I was on or under-pace to be under an hour; I just needed to hang on.

I don’t want to say I was surprised to hang as long as I did, because I wasn’t. I’ve been training well, and I’m in good shape. But damn, I’d be lying if it didn’t feel good to feel good! Like I said, running is sometimes a struggle for me. I’ve had far more races where I felt like crap on the run than feeling good. I mean I could probably tell you which races I felt good running at - and that’s saying something seeing as I’ve done well over 100 races in my day. All things considered, it was a good day running around the river.