Gasparilla Distance Classic 15K

Ahoy mateys!!

About a year ago in all the pre-B2B scheming with the Tampa Tri Posse of Two, I was all but dared to partake in this year's Gasparilla festivities, tho originally to the tune of a 15k on Saturday and a half-marathon on Sunday. Somewhere along the way we came to our collective senses (running at least), and my weekend would become the 15K on Saturday, followed by the marathon relay on Sunday, where I teamed up with Shawn, Linae's husband Joe (in full Jack Sparrow costume), and their friend Molly. Working backwards here, the marathon relay was just an all-around fun time for all involved, which may or may not be recapped in a separate RR.

Now for the 15K, I'd say it was originally supposed to be an A-minus race, with the Go! St Louis half just 6 weeks away, but I knew it would be a legit PR opportunity given that my 15K mark was so soft (previously 1:13:44, lowered to 1:11:08 last month). That said, after easing me into it after the first of the year, Coach Kristen sure seemed to be training me like it was an A-race for the past month or so. She thought, based on my 5K effort coming off B2B, that I was capable of 1:08 in this race, and accordingly she had me throwing in about 10 minutes of goal race pace on almost every run for the last few weeks.

Executive summary:
1:07:12! Hit the halfway point in 34:13.
Mile splits per Garmin:
7:14/7:20/7:21/7:17/7:12/7:12/7:09/7:13/6:56(!)/2:15 on the last .32

Going into this race I had been thinking a lot about the weather, because the forecasts had been calling for fairly solid NE winds, which meant it would be right in my face for the last half of the race coming up Bayshore. Other than the wind and the first hints of rain moving in when I hit the last half-mile, the weather was perfect... overcast, upper 40s... just warm enough not to need a 2nd layer, just cool enough that I wasn't looking to throw away my gloves.

The other effect of the wind played into my favor. It got me to talk myself and my coach out of a serious negative-split strategy. Kristen had told me to aim for goal pace (7:20) going out, maybe 7:10s if it felt good and I could hold low/mid Z3. Then I'd try to hang on coming back, mostly watching for the lactate threshold just so I wouldn't blow up completely.

When I went to line up, I worked my way up thru the crowd, and kept going when I hadn't seen any pace balloons faster than 9:00/mi... before I knew it I was about 10 rows behind the barricade separating the sub-1:00 people from us, the unwashed masses. I asked around, and a couple people I talked to said they were aiming for ~7:15/mile paces, so I figured I was in the right place.

The race went off right on time, and the crowding was fairly minimal early on...actually just enough traffic to keep my pace sane. Made the turn off of Platt Street and headed down toward Bayshore, and the Garmin said I was sub-7:00 pace but still in Z2. Half-mile came up at 3:37. Got onto Bayshore with a 7:14 first mile and I thought I was in business. The tailwind was less than I expected... and just enough that it actually got kinda warm fairly quickly. From there I tried to settle in, but was higher in Z3 than I wanted while just barely holding goal pace. Mile 2 was 7:20.

In the 3rd mile I couldn't seem to keep it out of Z4 anymore, so I just tried to keep it on the lower end. Mile 3 was 7:21 with a gel. In the 4th and 5th miles, the story was the same... just trying to maintain low-end Z4 as best I could while staying on pace. I hit the halfway point in 34:13 (it was good per the Garmin), knowing that I could meet Kristen's A-goal for me if I could maintain pace (which I wasn't so sure about), but figuring my B-goal of sub-1:10 was still very makeable. I guess there was just enough form-focus to let me hit 7:17 and 7:12.

Coming back up Bayshore wasn't too bad until just after the 5-mile mark, where there's no longer anything between us and the bay. I drafted whenever the opportunities presented themselves, and let my HR drift farther up into Z4, but staying just off what I had perceived to be my threshold in a previous race (luckily it's close to the high end). Mile 6 came up as a 7:12 again; could I really do this? The 7th and 8th miles were where I started to notice the bad pavement on Bayshore. Cutting tangents on the right was also limited by a very uneven and raised white line marking the bike lane (also very unforgiving for bikes, if ya wanted to cycle on Bayshore!). I knew I would have to be careful, even tho I was pushing hard. But Mile 7 came up as a 7:09, and Mile 8 was a 7:13 with what would be my last water stop and a few cautious steps.

After the 8-mile mark, I didn't want to go into the red too early. Fortunately, this race shares a finish line with the marathon, the 5k, and the half-marathon. I knew that 2-mile for the 5k was 1.1 to go, and at that point I tried to dial up whatever I had left. But of course, this is where I realize that this part of Bayshore is not asphalt, but concrete. Really unforgiving concrete. Talk about a painful end to the race! About a half-mile to go and it starts raining. At the 9-mile mark I see the Garmin click the lap...6:56! I was just ticking over 1:05, could I actually BREAK 1:07? Unfortunately there's not another gear. Under the Davis Island Bridge... then the barricades start... there's Linae cheering, and I'm not sure who's more amazed with my time. Crossed the line at 1:07:21 on the clock, 1:07:12 chip time.

I think the wind... both the forecast and then it being a bit lighter than expected... actually played in my favor. Otherwise, I might have left too much on the table by splitting too slow early in the race. I think Kristen having a good handle on what I could do, training me appropriately, and getting me to believe in that possibility, played a huge role in making it happen. I wonder what may be in store for St Louis in April... if I haven't peaked too early here.