Race Report: Miracle Miles 15K

I've been such a slacker about posting race reports lately, but I guess is better late than never :) I think I lack the motivation to blog about races because running has become such a routine that it feels like every race report is the same thing and I nothing special. But I'm still making progress by leaps and bounds, so I don't want to quit documenting it. So onto the race report! There are no photos of this race because Jason ran it too and there were no official photographers :(

Last Saturday, 9/26, I ran my first 15K race, and had a great time despite the heat and humidity that accosted us towards the end of the race. I had a couple of goals for this race, the main one being a sub-12 min/mile pace, because I wasn't sure I had being training for long distances enough to push it more. Secretly, I wanted to finish in 1:45 - 1:50 with a sub-11:45 min/mile avg pace. I pretty much met all my goals. If I pushed a tad more at the end, I probably would have come in under 1:45, but I am very pleased with my effort.

The race start was a little over 2 miles from our apartment, so we biked there. This is always a great way to warm up, and it helped us beat the traffic. I found a few people from the Galloway group at the start line and ran with them for a bit using 2:1. We were averaging 12 min/mi from the beginning, which had me worried I had started out too fast, but I was able to keep improving the pace for most of the race. One of the girls, Carlie, and I eventually ran ahead of the group and finished together. We took an extra walk break just before mile 8 then pushed it to the end. I was glad to have enough left for a nice sprint at the finish, and grateful for a running buddy to help me push through the rough patches. I wore my fuel belt with two bottles so I could drink whenever I wanted. There was plenty of water on the course, but I'm glad I had it so I could eat and drink on my schedule. I also brought some gels and shot blocks, and I can sure tell the difference when I take those. I think that's what got me through the last 5K.

According to the Garmin, I ran 9.42 miles in 1:49:50 @ 11:39 min/mi avg pace. This increases my confidence that with a little more training and speed work, I'll be able to run a sub-2:30 half marathon in December. I can't wait!

Mile Splits (pace) according to Garmin

12:02
11:59
11:42
11:14
11:23
11:34
11:52
11:33
12:04
10:21 (.42 in 4:19)

Official Stats

• overall place = 1000 / 1260
• age group place = 77 / 107
• gender place = 488 / 676
• clock time = 1:50:48
• chip time = 1:49:50