Thirteen years in a row! Minnesota’s Annual Rite of Spring, the Get in Gear races at Minnehaha Park, just keep getting better and better – well organized, the best running value of the year, a scenic course and believe it or not, decent weather for two years straight. Well, OK, today’s easterly 17MPH wind was not so nice coming across the Lake Street Bridge (and up the dreaded hill near St. Thomas), but otherwise it was pretty great running weather – especially compared to the rest of 2014.
After setting a PR last year of 44:40, I was really nervous about trying to repeat anything close to that time. I’m at least ten pounds heavier and another year into the masters category, so there were two strikes against me right off the bat. Throw in the crappy winter for outdoor training and I had no idea what would happen. I started the race with a 6:55 first split, which seemed way too fast and made me panic a little about finishing without having to stop and walk. I was breathing harder than normal and my calf muscles were very sore. The rest of the splits were all in the sevens – 7:23, 7:41, 7:41, 7:37 and 7:32.
My Garmin said the first mile was way off from where the sign was located, but the rest of the course was pretty much spot on. I felt pretty good coming across the Ford Bridge, but knew my final time wasn’t going to be close to last year. The final stretch went OK, but I finished with a watch time of 46:34 (almost two minutes slower than last year).
Some other stats from the results page:
- Official time of 46:35 (7:30 pace)
- Overall: 374 out of 3014
- Men: 281 out of 1338 Males
- Age Group: 25 out of 160 Males in the M45-49 Age Group
The finish area had water and Gatorade this year and the food was back in the main pavilion again. Does it get any better than Great Harvest raisin bread, salted nut rolls, bananas and chocolate milk? There was also a yogurt vendor with peanut butter spread samples, but my hands were full by the time I made it to their table. The shirt was technical again (cotton is dead and gone forever, it seems) and the bags were super nice (with an innovative design).
Up next: TC 1 Mile on May 8 (guessing that PR will be tough to beat too)
