Stockade-athon 15k Race Report

Stockade-athon 15k Race Report


The plan according to Mat and Aaron:
Training through this race (not a goal race so no taper or anything like that), long warm-up to better simulate a marathon, don’t go out faster than 5:55,  wait until 10k to make a move.

The result: 

Stockade-athon Champion, New PR – 54:46

Aaron and Mat ran as well, Aaron – 4^th place overall, YOU ROCK! 48:59, Mat – New PR – 57:50, NICE JOB!

Check out the Daily Gazette write-up here.

What actually happened:

Wake up at 5am.  My parents were in town to watch visit and watch us run, FUN!  I have the normal pre-race breakfast, oatmeal and a banana, and go through my usual AIS stretching and soft tissue work.  Aaron and I manage to squeak out the door just on time at 6:55am and get to the course by 7:30am.  I do some dynamic stretching and then head out on my long warm-up for about 55 minutes.  Since my goal race is the Olympic Trials in January we decided to go into the race having already ran 7 miles to simulate the idea that mile 8 will be mile 15 and so on.  The race was geared towards being more of a key workout in training as opposed to a goal race where I want to run fast.  After warming up I got my awesome new neon green ARE Racing Team uniform on, said hi to my parents and gave them my extra clothes, did a few strides, took a GU gel (I could probably survive on these if they were my only food source) and headed to the start line.  I went through mile 1 in 5:53 right on pace and was comfortably tucked in behind Ashley Gorr.  I followed race plan and stayed settled in behind Ashley until just after the 10k mark.  I pulled away from Ashley after 10k and she battled right back, what a tough competitor and fellow Olympic Trials Qualifier.  It was great to have such awesome competition!  Eventually I was able to pull away and work on picking off some of the guys who were in front of me.  I would have liked to finish the last 5k a little bit stronger and faster, but overall a solid day with a new PR 54:46. 

Check out the Post-Race Video Here.

Conclusion:

I still have a long way to go but have made huge progress in my 10 weeks back to running.  I definitely have bigger dreams and hopes, but will focus on enjoying the process now, staying injury free, and every day reaching for my goals.