Too Cold To Hold 2009

Woo-hoo! A new PR for the 15K distance. I think we can confidently say that my stress-fracture recovery is now complete!

I finished this morning's Too Cold To Hold 15K (9.41 miles per GPS) in 1:17:42.8 (8:21/mi official pace; 8:16/mi per GPS).  This is more than two minutes faster than the FWRC Labor Day 15K and just shy of my "target" 8:15/mi pace.  Looks like I'll have to set a new goal pace soon. :-)

Don T and I carpooled and met up with Wilhe at the race site.  Many of my other running friends were doing the Houston Marathon on Sunday so I wasn't expecting to see a huge turnout at the race (whether I knew them or not).  It was a crisp January morning with cloudy skies.  Overall, the weather was nearly perfect with cool temperatures - a bit of headwind (13.5 MPH average from the south) was the only part that could have been improved.

I didn't really know what to expect going into this race as 9.3 miles is the farthest that I have run in over two months (since early November's DRC Half and my shin injury).  My plan was to start off with a slow pace, take walk breaks at the water stations, and finish strongly.

I worked hard at keeping a steady pace in the opening miles and I did accomplish it with a 26:02 split at the 5K mark.  The next 3.1 miles were completed in 26:37 and the final 25:04.  So I did finish strongly.  Full (per mile/5K) splits from my Garmin Forerunner 305:

Though it may seem like I slowed down in the middle of the race, the times are actually deceptive because (1) there was a lot of headwind as we ran south down the west side of White Rock Lake and (2) there were 2 water stations (and thus walk-breaks) during that stretch - there was only 1 each for the first and last 5K segments.

Speed chart - only walked at the 1.8-mile, 4.1-mile, 6.1-mile, and (briefly) 7.4-mile water stations:

I felt very good for the two big hills of the course - the ramp heading up to Mockingbird at Mile 2.9and at the south end of the lake at Mile 7.5.  For both of them, I was able to bear down and make it to the top without slowing significantly.  Elevation chart below.

Finally, here is my heart rate chart.  Good drops during the walk-breaks at Mile2 4.1 and 6.1.  I was actually planning to keep my heart rate (and pace) lower, but during the race, I felt really good - even running at a 8:16/mi average.  I was a little worried (surprised) that I was going too fast, but it just didn't feel too fast.  I guess it just goes to show that heart rate is just one factor (along with weather, course, and overall "feel") in determining the optimal speed and effort for the day.

With my time of of 1:17:43, I placed 28th out of 57 for my age group (M 35-39) and 159th out of 632, overall.  My finish time was also nearly 3 1/2 minutes faster than last year's race when I was nursing my IT band injury (uggh, bad memories).  But that's in the past, today is a great milestone - both for injury recovery and just an awesome race overall.  :-)

At the finish line, I cheered in Wilhe and Serena (who also PRed!) - somehow I missed Don - must have been grabbing water - before heading up to the Winfrey Point clubhouse for some breakfast tacos (yum) and rehydration.  The weather for the day lived up to the race's name, but solid performances and scrambled eggs, salsa and tortillas made us warm inside.

Final race results:  http://www.runontexas.com/Results/2009/TooColdToHold904905/TooColdMenu.htm

MotionBased data: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7464559