2013 ZENA ROAD RUNS 15K RACE REPORT

Runners climb the first hill right after the gun went off. Can't find myself in the mob.

Most of the nation's attention this last Sunday was focused on one major sporting event. You know which one I am talking about. The historic Zena Road Runs 15k! Who gives a crap about that football game, my right? Okay, I do like to watch the Super Bowl, but I was very focused on making this race successful for me. It didn't start until 11am, which was great (no early morning!), and it still left time to go home, shower, and head off to a Super Bowl party by kickoff.

I was a little worried after posting my goals for this race. I thought I might have bit off a little more than I could chew with a 1:15 on a hilly course. 8 minute miles are no big deal, but eight minutes on this course might be tough. I Google Street Viewed parts of the course I could and got a sense of what I was up against. I felt pretty good though as I had a pretty light week of running this week intentionally so I could crush this.

The race was pretty small, about 380 racers split between a 3 mile, 6 mile, and 15 kilometer race. The 15k field was pretty serious, even more serious than the Coburg half marathon to be honest. Looking at the results from last year I figured I'd place about right in the middle of the pack. That was fine with me though as long as I ran the best race I could.

Two miles in. Gravel and hills, GAH!

Libbie and I parked at the shuttle lot down a gravel road and then took the bus to the start line. After checking in we had to kill about 25 minutes. It wasn't too cold out, 44 or so, but not warm by any means. The weather was dry and overcast, really some perfect running weather. Eventually everyone all clumped together in the road and got ready to start. The race was unique because there was no "start line" just a giant clump with a sign saying "<== 15K" and "3 & 6 mi ==>" pointing opposite ways down the road.

We were just chatting wondering if there was going to be a start line or what and all of a sudden the horn to start goes off. Holy shit! I went from talking casually to running a race in about two tenths of a second. Guess we're racing now! Kinda funny, and frankly, I kind of liked it. No getting nervous or anything, just go!

Miles 1-3 "Gravel and Hills" (8:35, 8:19, 8:28):

Much like the HoHo 5k, this race starts you going up a hill pretty quick. Unlike the HoHo, this hill is probably 3x as long and you are racing 9 miles instead of 3. I made sure to pace myself up it, pushing myself but not blowing my load right at the start. I went to a point where my lungs were screaming but my legs felt okay still. Turns out this was about 8:30/mile, which is surprising since that pace normally feels sort of fast on flat land. Gotta love race day adrenaline.

Anyways, I chugged up the hill, my breathing pretty labored. Fortunately there were "breaks" during the uphill three miles and most of the tough uphill was right at the beginning. A couple other small hills to climb but nothing too major in the first three. Not as bad as I was expecting, which was nice. That first hill was a beast, I won't downplay that, but we were still very fresh at this point and if you paced yourself it didn't ruin your race.

About a mile and a half in or so the road changed from paved to gravel. That sucked. The second and third miles were less about the mini hills we were climbing and more about the gravel road. NOT fun to run on. Most everybody just ran single file on the best "bare trail" caused by cars driving on it. The gravel did affect my pace somewhat as you couldn't push off very well. Just had to keep going though! The gravel ended right around the mile three marker. I knew my mile times to that point and wasn't too happy with them. I realized I had to pace myself due to the hills but I also was aware I had to bomb the next few miles to make up for it.

Miles 4-6 "Downhill Bombing" (7:09, 7:03, 7:15):

Once the road changed back to pavement it felt like I was a new man. The surface was definitely a little bit harder, but once my legs got used to that (5 seconds) it felt great. I honestly could tell how much faster I was just by changing to the pavement.

This is actually near the finish line.

Pretty soon the course started to go downhill - fast. Too fast actually. At parts it was so steep I was almost shuffling down it. I wanted to really let it fly but my legs couldn't have handled that. I was worried enough about fucking up my knee or getting shin splints with the pace I was going. Some people passed me here, but that was alright.

Anyways, the fourth mile was basically the exact opposite of the first mile. All downhill. My lungs felt great at this point in the race after being really tested the first third of the race, this third was doing its work on my legs. When my phone read out my fourth mile time of 7:09 I was stoked and did a little fist pump. Maybe I could make up that time from the first three miles!

The next two miles were more of the same although the downhill portions were much milder (yay!). I was able to run pretty dang fast without exerting much effort. There wasn't really any uphill during these miles, just flat or downhill. When I heard my fifth mile time of 7:03 I was shocked. I thought for sure the fourth mile would be my best based on how downhill it was, but I guess the slighter decline worked in my favor (I also got a huge shot of adrenaline after hearing that first low seven time).

The final downhill mile was more of the same. I felt great at this point, I figured I could ride this downhill thing until mile six and then I'd only have a 5k to go. Even if I was tired, it was just a 5k! I figured I'd need to average around eight minutes a mile over the last three to hit my goal. Completely doable.

Course elevation profile. Notice the 600 foot elevation gain in the first three miles.

Miles 7-9 "Bring it Home!" (7:59, 7:57, 7:24)

After mile six the course flattened out and we got rolling hills instead. Nothing too bad, sure a couple fifty footers maybe, but nothing to derail you at that point. I feared my legs would be shredded after the downhill portion but I felt surprisingly good. My lungs were hurting but my legs felt decent, which is really what you want. I knew if I just had a sold effort into the gate I'd have a great time.

Nothing too special about these final three. By now the field had separated and I had run pretty much by myself for three miles or so. I was within fifty feet of somebody either way, but no bunching at all. I just made a conscious effort to keep my speed up. It's a little harder when you don't have people right there egging you on.

What else of note? Passed a few walkers of the 6 mile race. The miles still seemed to be coming at a fairly regular rate, no "eons" between markers like my half marathon. I was a little disappointed with the 7:59, but really, it was still under eight, what did I expect?

Picked it up a bit with the finish line near and the last .33 miles came in at 6:30/mile or so. I was able to see the clock as I crossed the finish line and was thrilled with my time! I was very drained though, I am sure I looked like a hot mess. I stumbled into the little shelter that was there and grabbed some food. A couple of people looked at me with a concerned look. What can I say, I like to leave it all out there. If you come in looking good with your wits about you something went wrong!

Happy with my 2nd place age division ribbon.

After eating I waited for Libbie to finish and then we waited for the 15k awards. I wasn't really expecting to place but I thought since the fields were broken up by 5 year increments I at least had a chance. Turns out I placed second in my age division (males 25-29). Wohoo! There might have only been three of us, but still! I kicked ass and it felt good to be rewarded!

Overall a very successful race! My pace was slightly under my half marathon pace and I really felt like I could have kept it going another four miles (if it was flat!). I thought I managed the hills really well and attacked the race the right way. Very happy!

Official Results: 9.33 miles in 1:12:22.5. 7:46/mile pace. 44/114 overall.

Mile 1: 8:35
Mile 2: 8:19
Mile 3: 8:28
Mile 4: 7:09
Mile 5: 7:03
Mile 6: 7:15
Mile 7: 7:59
Mile 8: 7:57
Mile 9: 7:24
Final .33: 2:09 (6:30/mile pace)