St. Pat’s 17k race recap

St. Pat’s 17k and 5k – Kimberly, Wisconsin; March 17, 2013

So everyone knows that Wisconsin is cold, but in March, it is usually at least in the upper 30’s, low 40’s, and last year, even made it up into the 70’s.  When I signed up for this race about two months ago, I knew it could be cold, but not freezing.  The temperature for the start of the race was a warm 13 degrees.  At that moment at the starting line, I thought of about 50 things in a 2 minute time span that I would rather be doing or where I would rather be.  I do not run in the cold.  I have a treadmill and it works for me, so this cold thing was going to be a shock.

Pre-Race...still warm

Even though it was cold, I was so excited to run this race.  It was my first race post-Disney Marathon, and probably my last until the Flying Pig Marathon.  I needed this long run race to gauge my training and how fast or slow I was really running.

The race course started at a bar, and went through a local community out to the trail along the highway.  I had been watching that trial all week since it had been snow and ice covered all winter, but the race organizers did a great job at breaking up the ice, shoveling/plowing the snow, and salting the icy areas that could not be broken up. 

The one thing I always have to remember about any race is that I’m a distance runner and my first one to two miles I just have to find my pace.  The first mile really sucked.  Every breath was cold and my face was freezing, but it went away towards the end of the first mile.  Since there were also 5k runners that started with the 17k runners, I was very happy to split off onto the trail so I could pace myself with the longer distance runners.

Finish Line! 

The first part of the trail was a little slick and I lost some time so I wouldn’t slip.  Eventually, I caught up to near the front of the pack and started to pass a few of the girls that were ahead of me.  I knew there would be a loop that I would be able to see and count the amount of girls ahead of me to know where I could place in age or overall.  I really wanted to place – there had to be a reason to be awake at 5:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning and freeze.

Once back on the trail and heading back to the bar to the finish, I passed another girl, so by my count, there were about 5 girls in front of me.  It was about mile 8 ½ when I realized that I not only had about 2 and ½ miles to go, but I was running by myself.  I could see one person in front of me, about 100 yards, and the guy I passed was about another 100 yards behind me.  My biggest thought was – don’t get lost.  Yet again, the course was so well marked, this was not possible.

After getting off the trail again, the next stop was to go down a few more streets to the finish.   The finish line area was not as icy as it was at the start, so I could actually run on it.  I finished in about 1:21.  The list and times were on the wall and I counted the number of girls ahead of me and their ages.  I was 5^th out of all the girls, and I thought 2^nd in my age group.  I was going to get a trophy!!

I got a little trophy :)

The awards for the 17k were announced in my age group, 31-34, and I heard 3^rd place, and then 2^nd place – but it wasn’t my name.  I had a moment of panic.  Did I count wrong?  Then I heard 1^st place was me!!!  First place in my age group, seriously?!

Even though it was freezing, and I thought my face was going to fall off and my head was going to explode after the race, having the little trophy made it all worth it.

Shout outs to my Green KT tape for holding my IT band together once again and my new Team Sparkle Skirt.  Also to my recently retired running shoes that came out of retirement for one last race.  They are double Boston Marathon qualifiers, one half marathon 3rd place age group finishers, and now one age group first place finisher.  They are now permanently retired!