2015 Stute BDL Race Recap

Little bit late in posting about it but the 2nd race in our BDL summer league was on the 12th of May.  While I am still feeling the lingering effects of bronchitis it ended up being a slightly better performance than I expected.  Fortunately we are getting some very speedy women in our club so it takes some of the pressure off that I put on myself for the league races...Don't get me wrong, I'm still trying my best whatever that may be at the time but if I am able to go into a race relaxed then I run better/faster and that certainly held true for this one.

Perhaps I was running a little too relaxed

Since this is the race that our club hosts it was on very familiar territory and except for a slight incline around mile 3 it is flat as can be, not really my preference but it can make for some speedy times. What is great about it being on our turf is that all the marshals know your name so it means lots of encouragement!  The weather was certainly more cooperative than last year's swelterfest, sunny and cool (while it's perfect running weather I'm ready for some warmth!) and some fast times were posted overall.

I stuck with starting near the back again, it does cost you seconds with reaching the actual start line but I've found that I pace myself better doing this, ie not jackrabbiting the first mile with getting caught up with the faster runners.  Once we all got settled into a rhythm I started focussing on surging forward and passing with a purpose, most of the time it worked but it is something that has to be practised so as not to slow down to much once you've made your move.  I also started it much earlier than I normally do which is doable if you are keeping a comfortably hard pace rather than being full out.

The Stute BDL race splits

As you can see from the table above I was slightly faster this year despite not being back in form...and you can see that the first mile in 2014 is why I struggled with the rest of the race.  That was NOT racing smart! Mile 3 is where the incline is and I still lost time on it but it was back down to a more reasonable split time with miles 4 and 5.  I am very happy with this pacing! 

Finish line approach in between 2 club mates

Placement comparison is interesting--I finished 211/339 overall, 34/115 women, and 4/13 in the VL45 category this year.  Last year it was 202/308, 34/100, and 4/12.  The first place woman in the VL45 category finished in 31:34, almost 9 minutes ahead of me, 3rd place was 37:48, again quite similar to last year's times and places, not sure I have 2 minutes faster in my legs.