hudson valley 15k: race report

the inaugural hudson valley 15k was held this weekend in blooming cove, new york. my good friend todd mapped out the course and managed to collect every hill (large and small) in the surrounding three towns to include along the route. while the course was challenging, it was also incredibly scenic. since i wasn't running boston this year the timing worked out perfectly. in fact, last year, emmy, todd and i were all at the boston marathon. this year we all ran the 15k!

i warmed up with an easy 7-8 minute jog before the start - mainly to stay warm since it was a bit on the chilly side. i actually put on a short sleeve tech shirt underneath the long sleeved one i had on. while they didn't seem warm enough at the start, i knew once the sun burnt thru the cloud cover i would be overdressed. but for the time being i tossed on a headband for good measure. my only time goal was to come in under 1:10 and run a consistent 7:30 pace.

i ran the first 2 and a half miles with todd. we chatted about the course, running, the grateful dead among other topics. he's lining up for the vermont city marathon next month. i haven't settled on a new marathon yet - but definitely need to nab a bq at one if i want to head back to boston next year! those first few miles flew by, including the climb up the hill (400+ feet) in the middle of mile three.

here are those initial splits:

7:48
7:35 15:23
7:54 23:18

i was off my planned 7:30 pace, so it was time get focused. the next two miles were right on target, 7:33 and 7:32, respectively. but my five mile split of 38:24 was almost a minute off the pace and i had just 4 miles left to make it up. so i picked up the pace a little to make up some lost ground:

6:39 45:03
7:17 52:20
7:02 59:22
7:07 1:06:29
2:01 1:08:31

7:21 pace

i went straight thru the chute and jogged the quarter mile back to the car to get my camera. i got back just in time to snap shots of todd and emmy crossing the finish line! then we all walked back to the staging area outside bella luna restaurant together. what an incredible post-race spread of food they had - in addition to bagels, coffee and assorted fruit: scrambled eggs, chicken, sausage and peppers, and pasta!

while my time was only good enough for 5th place in my age group, emmy not only won her age group - but was the 5th woman finisher overall!

check out emmy's race report!

next up: the sybil ludington 50k.


seconds? maybe thirds? i won't fess up :D

here are my race photos.