from the archives: 2007 trrc st. patrick's day 10k: race report

looking over my 2007 and 2008 race reports for the trrc st. patrick's day 10k, i decided to post the 2007 (pre-blog) report which had been posted on runners world on-line forums.

this weekend actually has more in common with 2007, when i had planned to run the nyrr 8000 the day before the st. patrick's day 10k. a snowstorm turned the nyrr 8k into a fun run - and resulted in rescheduling the men's professional race to the next morning!
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Taconic RRC St. Patrick’s Day 10K
FDR State Park, Yorktown, NY
Sunday, March 18, 2007

An unexpected return to winter resulted in a switch to plan B. My original training schedule included the NYRR 8K, followed by a couple of loops of Central Park on Saturday morning. The surprise snow storm that visited Friday resulted in some unplanned cross-training with the snow shovel that night, and again on Saturday morning. Because of the storm, the NYRR switched the race to a fun run and gave runners credit toward the 08 NYCM. So no trip into the City for me that morning. Instead, I shoveled snow, then switched into trail shoes and went out for a wet, sloppy ten miler.

I had looked forward to Sunday because my eleven year old daughter and I had planned to run a 2 mile race at FDR State Park. But Sunday school kept my daughter from the race. Instead, I drove up with my friend Emmy. And we met up with our friend, John, as we pulled into the parking lot. It was dreary, overcast, and still brutally cold and windy that morning. Most of the snow had developed a crust of ice from the wind. But the park road, for the most part, was clean and dry. Except for a few noticeable patches of ice and slush between, of all places, the start and finish areas, the only major course considerations were two hills - a small one at the near end of the loop, and a big one at the far end.

John ran the two miler. To keep him company, and warm up for the 10k, I ran the two miler as well. It also gave me an opportunity to preview the course. The two miler was one loop of the park. The 10k was basically three loops. The first loop, however, included an out and back leg to complete the precise distance. Given the two races were 45 minutes apart, my "warm-up" was a bit premature. But since I had no intention of racing the 10k, it wasn’t too much of a problem. My goal was to finish in under 44 minutes, in a 7:00 to 7:04 pace.

I went out a little too fast for mile one, 6:54. But most of that effort was to get warm as quickly as possible. I hit the next two miles right on target with 7:02 and 7:07, respectively. But as I climbed the big hill at the end of mile two, it dawned on me that getting to the top of this another two times would not be fun. In fact, the second time up that hill, mile 4, took 7:20 - and, given the headwind - I was relieved that it wasn’t slower! I pushed back with a 6:54 mile five, for a split of 35:19 - right on pace. Unfortunately, with one more climb left, I couldn’t maintain that pace. The last 1.2 miles was in 8:49, for a 44:09 finish.

I was a little disappointed that I didn’t keep it together for that last climb in mile six. But not disappointed enough to skip the micro brewed beer on tap at the post-race ceremonies; which we had the good fortune to drink as we stood in front of a raging outdoor fireplace! Overall, I looked at this race performance as a solid tempo run, in very cold and windy conditions. Hopefully, with this late season snowstorm having run its course, winter will finally relent and release it grip.

Next up: this Saturday, the Sullivan Striders Wurtsboro Mountain 30k.
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i took pictures at the 2007 race but, unfortunately, on a non-digital camera. until i can scan them, here are some pictures from the 2008 race.

here are the pictures from the 2009 st. patrick's day races.