Race report - Heart Mini 15k

Much to everyone in Louisville's confusion, a "mini marathon" is not necessarily a "half marathon." Sunday I headed to Cincinnati for my first race since Memphis. I decided to just drive up that morning, so that I could sleep in my own bed and save money, so I was on the road at about 7:30 a.m. ... gotta love a 10 a.m. race start! I had a coffee, a donut, some poptarts, a bottle of water and a bottle of gatorade with me. Most of those were consumed en route.

Got to the parking garage at about 9 a.m., watching everyone walk around the pickup area in tights and jackets. "Crap," I thought to myself, "I hope I'm not the only fool in shorts." My current philosophy is that if it's too cold for shorts, it's too cold to race. Granted, I wore shorts and short sleeves in Memphis and it was 35, so the bar is pretty high.

I had resigned myself to the weather; when I arrived it wasn't awful. Mid-40s, occasional drizzle. I had packed short sleeves and a singlet, plus my shorts. And gloves.

Inside, I scooped up my packet, along with a rare creature: a race shirt that fits. When they handed it to me, I was worried it would be too small. It looked tiny -- probably because it was a youth small. It fits perfectly. Go figure.

At 9:15 I was back in my car, heater running, pondering my warmup options. I had a running jacket and warmup pants, but couldn't decide if I wanted to warm up in those and come back and sit in the car for a few and change, or if I wanted to ditch everything and and warmup just before the start. I opted for the later.

I listed to a litany of obnoxious songs that make me want to run fast: Drop it like it's hott (Snoop), Walk it Out (DJ Unk), Ole Ole, etc. I put my tag on my flats, pinned my bib to my shorts, and locked up the car at about 9:40. I jogged over to the convention center, hit the bathroom, did some strides inside where it was warm, then jogged outside some more.

Had a hard time getting to the front of the start, so guess I should have warmed up earlier. They had seeded spots, but nothing about them on the website, and the female seed standard was 57 minutes anyway. Yeah right.

Mile 1: 6:20. Totally uphill through the first half mile or so. Nice overpass bridge. Weather crappy. Too fast. Pull self back under control.

Mile 2: 6:44. Right on pace. Water stop at mile 1.5, the 5k turnaround from earlier that morning. Really loud stereo. I hate running past speakers. Makes my head want to explode. Nice view of the river.

Mile 3: 6:34. Fast? Slow? These middle distances (10k/15k/HM) kill me. Trying to settle in. 5k in 20:16.

Mile 4: 6:37. Better. Nice hill thrown in here. Approaching turnaround, always fun to navigate. This race has two! Count seven girls ahead of me, so I figure I'm in the top ten, but you don't always know for sure.

Mile 5: 6:40. Back up the hill we came down as we approached turnaround. Getting to see runners still coming in.

Mile 6: 6:48. Hill from HELL. Goes up about a quarter mile so steep you can touch the ground in front of you, whips around the second turnaround at the mile marker. Wind getting nasty. 10k in 41:04 (a new PR).

Mile 7: 7:05. Then you go back down the hill, and up a really long one. At this point the wind is so hard I can't breathe or see. Catch girl in front of me who looks totally spent. Stay with her for a bit.

Mile 8: 6:46. Wind still terrible, hills still terrible, I'm starting to be miserable but it's almost over. Encouragement gained when crossing chip mat at mile 8.3 -- they give awards for the fastest final mile. It's a good reminder there's just one stupid mile left.

Mile 9: 6:57. Back up the huge hill from the race's beginning. This one hurts. My calves are screaming, the wind is blowing me backwards, and I'm ready for it to be over. 2:09 for the .3 - not much of a kick. Chip timed to 6:40 for the last mile (seventh fastest final female mile).

Finish time 62:40, 6:45 pace, ninth female overall. Somewhat encouraged that the seed time was 57 but the weather was so rough only the first-place girl ran that fast -- she ran 57:30. I'm happy, had gone in hoping to run anywhere between 6:30 and 7 pace, so I was about dead middle. Think better weather and I could have ran faster for sure. But, all things considered, for that course on that day, it was a good performance.

Flats worked out well, no owies. A little dinged up overall post-race, but that's to be expected. Other updates to come later.