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Ran a 10k - Official Thread (9 Viewers)

Suffice to say that was hard as hell, he tried to kill me, and I said to him less than 2/10ths from the finish line "You're going to need to hold me when we cross".  Definitely had to lay down as soon as I finished as I was about to pass out.

Enjoying a post race meal now, write up this afternoon upcoming.

 
gianmarco said:
Suffice to say that was hard as hell, he tried to kill me, and I said to him less than 2/10ths from the finish line "You're going to need to hold me when we cross".  Definitely had to lay down as soon as I finished as I was about to pass out.

Enjoying a post race meal now, write up this afternoon upcoming.
Click to expand...
No idea how you held a 170+ HR for so long.  That's some serious #BMFery.  Awesome work.

 
2019 St. Louis Hot Chocolate 15K Race Report

Well, I signed up for this race late last year shortly after completing it for the 2nd time.  It's a fun race in Forest Park, a great park to run in, and would be our 3rd time running it (with my wife).  Shortly after the relay race, I talked about it with @gruecd and he decided to come down to visit and race it as well.  As has been documented here, he eventually opted to turn it into a pacing effort for me.  So, we'll get back to that later. 

My training leading up to this has been somewhat non-existent.  I did MAF training starting in July, had a good 6 weeks with increased volume in the middle of summer, but then life happened as it always seems to with a move, school starting, travel, etc.  7 weeks without hitting 20 mpw isn't great for building fitness.  However, I was able to pick it up at least a bit the last month and a half averaging about 20 mpw.  Not ideal, but good enough to feel comfortable to race this.  Over the last few weeks, I had also increased the number of longer runs.  Still, this was new territory for me as I've done virtually no fast running in months and didn't know what to expect.  All I knew is that I wanted to at least beat my time from last year of 1:17:16 (8.18 pace).  It's not the worst course in terms of elevation, but it's not easy either.  400 feet with 5 decent hills spread out makes it a bit more difficult. 

Anyway, Grue and his better half arrived yesterday morning and got to spend an awesome day together.  Quick 3 mile shakeout run in my hood, then some brunch (with lots of carbs!), and a few hours of sightseeing.  In the evening, we got to go out for a great dinner together and then one last stop for a drink.  I Iguana'd the hell out of my meal last night eating a 12 oz ribeye, potatoes, plus some of my wife's food in addition to 3 beers last night.  Awesome pre-race nutrition.  Got home a little before 9 and got to bed early for some rest.  Unfortunately, I was back up shortly after midnight and didn't sleep much the rest of the night.  One of our dogs was restless and it kept me up.  Oh well, nothing I wasn't used to.  I'm thinking of the race at this point, how it probably wasn't smart to eat/drink like we did, but in the end, finally got out of bed by 5am, did the business, ate yogurt/honey for breakfast and some coffee and then finished getting ready.  Temps were 32 degrees but there was no wind and it was supposed to be sunny.  Opted to go with a long sleeve thermal shirt and then a tech shirt over that.  Shorts, gloves, and nothing for my head or legs.  Turned out to be perfect for the race as we had absolutely beautiful weather to run a 15K.  Left the house about 6:40am, arrived a few minutes before 7 and parked a little over a mile from the start.  1 mile warmup with my personal pacer then headed back to catch up with the ladies who were walking.  His wife hasn't been running much lately so she wasn't going to race but was going to walk the 5K.  We all meet up at almost 7:25 at the start area and it's time to get ready to run as the race was starting in 5 minutes.  It's a pretty big race with multiple corrals and luckily we got to start in Corral A at the front. 

Grue tells me we'll start with the 8:00 pacer and see how she does but for me to just stay on his hip, don't look at my watch, and let him do all the work.  I'm in.  Horn blares and we're off....

Mile 1 -- 8:02 pace (HR 145) 

Lots of people so just tried to settle in where there was room.  The start is nice and flat and this felt really comfortable.  I didn't even feel like we were running that fast and was encouraged when we stuck with the 8:00 pacer, Grue's telling me we're doing just fine, and I look at my watch half mile in and see a HR of 143.  Sweet -- this is going to be a good day.  I also got +5 from Garmin.  Yay?!!? Pretty uneventful until near the end of the first mile when we hit our first big hill (6-8% grade) for about 3/10ths of a mile.  Get to the top and it turns into a downhill for mile 2.  Feeling good, chatting it up, good start.

Mile 2 -- 7:46 pace (HR 173)

After the downhill for the first couple tenths of a mile, it's a steady incline for almost the remainder.  Grue starts mentioning how the 8:00 pacer is going out really hot as we are pretty far below an 8:00 pace especially going uphill.  He brings us back a bit until we hit the downhill toward the end.  Still feeling good.  Didn't look at my watch until the very end of the mile and see HR of 171.  I'm thinking to myself "uh oh" but I'm actually still feeling pretty good at this point.  Comfortably talking, not breathing heavy, but inside I'm wondering if this is good.  I mention it to Grue and he says I may run high today but will keep an eye on me.  All still going well.

Mile 3 -- 7:50 pace (HR 175)

This is a pretty flat mile.  While I'm not feeling bad, I definitely am not feeling the same as I did for the first 2 miles.  If I were running by myself, especially with the HR, I would have backed it off here and tried to recover.  I'm still not laboring with my breathing, but I'm starting to feel more uncomfortable.  It doesn't help that my HR remains in the 170's for this entire section despite no hills.  I start to worry a little.

Mile 4 -- 8:05 pace (HR 172)

This is where the race turned for me and from here on out was pretty bad.  Grue is talking to me and he starts to realize I'm not answering him back nearly as much before.  I tried a couple times when he tells me to stop talking and just keep it up.  He can see I'm starting to labor a bit.  On top of that, the first half mile of this section is all uphill.  And it sucks.  I look at my watch again and see HR of 181.  I've never seen that during a race except at the very end.  And I'm not even halfway done.   The downhill can't come soon enough.  It brings some temporary relief but not as much as I would have liked.  Here's where I start thinking about everyone here and how I have no idea how I'm going to keep up with him.  I go "Grue, I know DBAP and all that, but I'm struggling here".  His response:  "You're doing great, just stay with me".  I start to curse at him in my head.

Mile 5 -- 7:59 pace (HR 172)

This is the worst part of the race.  I realize I've not even completed half of it and I feel like I've felt at the end of my races.  #### Grue and his pacing and goals for me.  This time, I don't keep it to myself, so I tell him he's an #######.  He agrees and says I'll thank him later and then picks up the pace after the next uphill we hit.  I peak at my HR and see 176 and realize there's no point in me looking anymore because it's higher than I've ever run before and I just need to get through this. 

Mile 6 -- 7:56 pace (HR 173)

This is now the worst part of the race.  It was more awful than the last mile.  I don't feel good.  My legs are starting to burn.  I'm breathing hard.  And this section is pretty flat while I know I still have another huge hill coming up toward the end.  Some young dude goes flying by us at one point around here and I called him an #######.  Grue laughs.  I wasn't trying to be funny.  We pass the 10K mat and he tells me here's where we get to push toward the end.  #### you.  I feel terrible.

Mile 7 -- 8:01 pace (HR 175)

Oh, it kept getting worse.  He wasn't kidding either as he kept trying to pull me along.  I'm trying whatever I can to keep up.  I can't breathe.  I can barely feel my legs.  I started to close my eyes here because this was the worst I've ever felt running.  It's a slight uphill and I'm trying every trick I can to keep up with higher knees, faster cadence, RF;DBAP,......it's not really helping.

Mile 8 -- 8:35 pace (HR 175)

Yeah, I'm so done.  And to make things even better, the end of this mile has the worst hill of the entire race.  I'm making all kinds of grunting sounds while running that I'm sure he had to be thinking to himself "wtf".  I didn't care.  I cursed at him several times whenever I could catch my breath.  We hit a water station here and I had to walk a little.  Grabbed the cup, moved over, and then everything went black.  I almost passed out and almost fell, kind of reaching out in front of me at nothing.  Grue sees me, I tell him, and he goes "ok, we need to slow down".  No ####, ########.  Pace falls off and I'm just putting one foot in front of the other.  Grue goes "just put one foot in front of the other".  I think to myself "I am".  I would tell him but I can't really talk now.  I did tell him to leave me at this point and go pace my wife who was about 20-30 seconds ahead of us.  He says "no, she's doing fine and doesn't need me".  Thanks again?

Mile 9 -- 7:59 (HR 176)

You know who's a BMF?  This guy right here.  I wanted to just walk off the course but we started with our downhill and I realized that I'm going to show him that it was worth it.  Pace starts picking up.  He notices and goes "That's right!".  We start going faster.  He's giving me all the encouragement I need.  We hit our last short but steep hill and I'm sprinting up that mfer.  Grue's getting excited.  I'm going to either fall or keep getting faster to the end. 

Mile 9.3 -- 7:09 (HR 175)

Despite being only 3/10ths away from the finish, because of the course, you can't see it until the last 1/10th.  I'm giving whatever I have left.  I know it's coming up even though I can't see it.  Make the last turn and break into what I would have sworn was a sprint but I doubt would truly be considered one.  I didn't care.  I seriously told him that he's going to have to hold me when we crossed the line and I was 100% serious.  I crossed the mat and couldn't see anything.  It was all black.  I somehow got to the side quickly, found a wooden pallet that was holding bottled water earlier and went down.  The next couple minutes were a blur. 

Final time -- 1:15:03 (8:04 pace)

206/2442

17/104 in AG (M40-44)

So yeah, I PR'd.  By over 2 minutes.  And there's no way I had any time left out there.  I wish I could have gotten those 4 seconds to get under 1:15:00, but I don't care.  But, more importantly, I don't come close to that time without @gruecd.  He was amazing.  Rode me to the end and got every little bit out of me.  On my own, I would have slowed down at multiple spots.  Not sure what it does to my time in the end, but this is where I'm at right now.

And this is why I love this thread.  Dude drives 6 hours down here to spend 24 hours and not even really race but paces me instead.  Can't even begin to express how amazing that is and how this was an experience I'll never forget despite how terrible it was while I was out there.  Plus, his wife is amazing and helped make this weekend incredible.

Of note, my wife stayed with us for the first couple miles, then passed us while staying with 8:00 pacer.  She was strong all the way through and finished in 1:14:36 (8:01 pace) which was good for a 35 second PR and finished 5th/207 in her AG and 190/2442 overall.  She was a rockstar and looked much better than me at the end.

Sorry for the super long report, but this has turned into one of my favorite races I've ever done and not because of my PR.  Thanks everyone for following along.  Now to rest....

 
Last edited by a moderator:
gianmarco said:
Of note, my wife stayed with us for the first couple miles, then passed us while staying with 8:00 pacer.  She was strong all the way through and finished in 1:14:36 (8:01 pace) which was good for a 35 second PR and finished 5th/207 in her AG and 190/2442 overall.  She was a rockstar and looked much better than me at the end.
Click to expand...
Great RR and your HR says it all.  You squeezed every ounce of juice out of yourself for a rockin' PR.  

But clearly we need a RR from Mrs. @gianmarco.  And to get her into the FBG Group.  She's a #BMF in her own right!

 
Awesome RR, @gianmarco. Amazing work and nice finish. So much love for it. Way to hang tough. Absolutely love those last couple of paragraphs as well as the actual race parts. 

 
gianmarco said:
2019 St. Louis Hot Chocolate 15K Race Report

Well, I signed up for this race late last year shortly after completing it for the 2nd time.  It's a fun race in Forest Park, a great park to run in, and would be our 3rd time running it (with my wife).  Shortly after the relay race, I talked about it with @gruecd and he decided to come down to visit and race it as well.  As has been documented here, he eventually opted to turn it into a pacing effort for me.  So, we'll get back to that later. 

My training leading up to this has been somewhat non-existent.  I did MAF training starting in July, had a good 6 weeks with increased volume in the middle of summer, but then life happened as it always seems to with a move, school starting, travel, etc.  7 weeks without hitting 20 mpw isn't great for building fitness.  However, I was able to pick it up at least a bit the last month and a half averaging about 20 mpw.  Not ideal, but good enough to feel comfortable to race this.  Over the last few weeks, I had also increased the number of longer runs.  Still, this was new territory for me as I've done virtually no fast running in months and didn't know what to expect.  All I knew is that I wanted to at least beat my time from last year of 1:17:16 (8.18 pace).  It's not the worst course in terms of elevation, but it's not easy either.  400 feet with 5 decent hills spread out makes it a bit more difficult. 

Anyway, Grue and his better half arrived yesterday morning and got to spend an awesome day together.  Quick 3 mile shakeout run in my hood, then some brunch (with lots of carbs!), and a few hours of sightseeing.  In the evening, we got to go out for a great dinner together and then one last stop for a drink.  I Iguana'd the hell out of my meal last night eating a 12 oz ribeye, potatoes, plus some of my wife's food in addition to 3 beers last night.  Awesome pre-race nutrition.  Got home a little before 9 and got to bed early for some rest.  Unfortunately, I was back up shortly after midnight and didn't sleep much the rest of the night.  One of our dogs was restless and it kept me up.  Oh well, nothing I wasn't used to.  I'm thinking of the race at this point, how it probably wasn't smart to eat/drink like we did, but in the end, finally got out of bed by 5am, did the business, ate yogurt/honey for breakfast and some coffee and then finished getting ready.  Temps were 32 degrees but there was no wind and it was supposed to be sunny.  Opted to go with a long sleeve thermal shirt and then a tech shirt over that.  Shorts, gloves, and nothing for my head or legs.  Turned out to be perfect for the race as we had absolutely beautiful weather to run a 15K.  Left the house about 6:40am, arrived a few minutes before 7 and parked a little over a mile from the start.  1 mile warmup with my personal pacer then headed back to catch up with the ladies who were walking.  His wife hasn't been running much lately so she wasn't going to race but was going to walk the 5K.  We all meet up at almost 7:25 at the start area and it's time to get ready to run as the race was starting in 5 minutes.  It's a pretty big race with multiple corrals and luckily we got to start in Corral A at the front. 

Grue tells me we'll start with the 8:00 pacer and see how she does but for me to just stay on his hip, don't look at my watch, and let him do all the work.  I'm in.  Horn blares and we're off....

Mile 1 -- 8:02 pace (HR 145) 

Lots of people so just tried to settle in where there was room.  The start is nice and flat and this felt really comfortable.  I didn't even feel like we were running that fast and was encouraged when we stuck with the 8:00 pacer, Grue's telling me we're doing just fine, and I look at my watch half mile in and see a HR of 143.  Sweet -- this is going to be a good day.  I also got +5 from Garmin.  Yay?!!? Pretty uneventful until near the end of the first mile when we hit our first big hill (6-8% grade) for about 3/10ths of a mile.  Get to the top and it turns into a downhill for mile 2.  Feeling good, chatting it up, good start.

Mile 2 -- 7:46 pace (HR 173)

After the downhill for the first couple tenths of a mile, it's a steady incline for almost the remainder.  Grue starts mentioning how the 8:00 pacer is going out really hot as we are pretty far below an 8:00 pace especially going uphill.  He brings us back a bit until we hit the downhill toward the end.  Still feeling good.  Didn't look at my watch until the very end of the mile and see HR of 171.  I'm thinking to myself "uh oh" but I'm actually still feeling pretty good at this point.  Comfortably talking, not breathing heavy, but inside I'm wondering if this is good.  I mention it to Grue and he says I may run high today but will keep an eye on me.  All still going well.

Mile 3 -- 7:50 pace (HR 175)

This is a pretty flat mile.  While I'm not feeling bad, I definitely am not feeling the same as I did for the first 2 miles.  If I were running by myself, especially with the HR, I would have backed it off here and tried to recover.  I'm still not laboring with my breathing, but I'm starting to feel more uncomfortable.  It doesn't help that my HR remains in the 170's for this entire section despite no hills.  I start to worry a little.

Mile 4 -- 8:05 pace (HR 172)

This is where the race turned for me and from here on out was pretty bad.  Grue is talking to me and he starts to realize I'm not answering him back nearly as much before.  I tried a couple times when he tells me to stop talking and just keep it up.  He can see I'm starting to labor a bit.  On top of that, the first half mile of this section is all uphill.  And it sucks.  I look at my watch again and see HR of 181.  I've never seen that during a race except at the very end.  And I'm not even halfway done.   The downhill can't come soon enough.  It brings some temporary relief but not as much as I would have liked.  Here's where I start thinking about everyone here and how I have no idea how I'm going to keep up with him.  I go "Grue, I know DBAP and all that, but I'm struggling here".  His response:  "You're doing great, just stay with me".  I start to curse at him in my head.

Mile 5 -- 7:59 pace (HR 172)

This is the worst part of the race.  I realize I've not even completed half of it and I feel like I've felt at the end of my races.  #### Grue and his pacing and goals for me.  This time, I don't keep it to myself, so I tell him he's an #######.  He agrees and says I'll thank him later and then picks up the pace after the next uphill we hit.  I peak at my HR and see 176 and realize there's no point in me looking anymore because it's higher than I've ever run before and I just need to get through this. 

Mile 6 -- 7:56 pace (HR 173)

This is now the worst part of the race.  It was more awful than the last mile.  I don't feel good.  My legs are starting to burn.  I'm breathing hard.  And this section is pretty flat while I know I still have another huge hill coming up toward the end.  Some young dude goes flying by us at one point around here and I called him an #######.  Grue laughs.  I wasn't trying to be funny.  We pass the 10K mat and he tells me here's where we get to push toward the end.  #### you.  I feel terrible.

Mile 7 -- 8:01 pace (HR 175)

Oh, it kept getting worse.  He wasn't kidding either as he kept trying to pull me along.  I'm trying whatever I can to keep up.  I can't breathe.  I can barely feel my legs.  I started to close my eyes here because this was the worst I've ever felt running.  It's a slight uphill and I'm trying every trick I can to keep up with higher knees, faster cadence, RF;DBAP,......it's not really helping.

Mile 8 -- 8:35 pace (HR 175)

Yeah, I'm so done.  And to make things even better, the end of this mile has the worst hill of the entire race.  I'm making all kinds of grunting sounds while running that I'm sure he had to be thinking to himself "wtf".  I didn't care.  I cursed at him several times whenever I could catch my breath.  We hit a water station here and I had to walk a little.  Grabbed the cup, moved over, and then everything went black.  I almost passed out and almost fell, kind of reaching out in front of me at nothing.  Grue sees me, I tell him, and he goes "ok, we need to slow down".  No ####, ########.  Pace falls off and I'm just putting one foot in front of the other.  Grue goes "just put one foot in front of the other".  I think to myself "I am".  I would tell him but I can't really talk now.  I did tell him to leave me at this point and go pace my wife who was about 20-30 seconds ahead of us.  He says "no, she's doing fine and doesn't need me".  Thanks again?

Mile 9 -- 7:59 (HR 176)

You know who's a BMF?  This guy right here.  I wanted to just walk off the course but we started with our downhill and I realized that I'm going to show him that it was worth it.  Pace starts picking up.  He notices and goes "That's right!".  We start going faster.  He's giving me all the encouragement I need.  We hit our last short but steep hill and I'm sprinting up that mfer.  Grue's getting excited.  I'm going to either fall or keep getting faster to the end. 

Mile 9.3 -- 7:09 (HR 175)

Despite being only 3/10ths away from the finish, because of the course, you can't see it until the last 1/10th.  I'm giving whatever I have left.  I know it's coming up even though I can't see it.  Make the last turn and break into what I would have sworn was a sprint but I doubt would truly be considered one.  I didn't care.  I seriously told him that he's going to have to hold me when we crossed the line and I was 100% serious.  I crossed the mat and couldn't see anything.  It was all black.  I somehow got to the side quickly, found a wooden pallet that was holding bottled water earlier and went down.  The next couple minutes were a blur. 

Final time -- 1:15:03 (8:04 pace)

206/2442

17/104 in AG (M40-44)

So yeah, I PR'd.  By over 2 minutes.  And there's no way I had any time left out there.  I wish I could have gotten those 4 seconds to get under 1:15:00, but I don't care.  But, more importantly, I don't come close to that time without @gruecd.  He was amazing.  Rode me to the end and got every little bit out of me.  On my own, I would have slowed down at multiple spots.  Not sure what it does to my time in the end, but this is where I'm at right now.

And this is why I love this thread.  Dude drives 6 hours down here to spend 24 hours and not even really race but paces me instead.  Can't even begin to express how amazing that is and how this was an experience I'll never forget despite how terrible it was while I was out there.  Plus, his wife is amazing and helped make this weekend incredible.

Of note, my wife stayed with us for the first couple miles, then passed us while staying with 8:00 pacer.  She was strong all the way through and finished in 1:14:36 (8:01 pace) which was good for a 35 second PR and finished 5th/207 in her AG and 190/2442 overall.  She was a rockstar and looked much better than me at the end.

Sorry for the super long report, but this has turned into one of my favorite races I've ever done and not because of my PR.  Thanks everyone for following along.  Now to rest....
Click to expand...
Loved every bit of this. 2 BMFs doing their damn thing!

 
@gruecd - awesome job pacing! And way to set the tone and squeeze everything out of him...you clearly knew how to manage the whole race.

@gianmarco - baller effort.  That sounded absolutely miserable but you dug down as far as you could and found a way to get to the finish line (for a PR and finished strong!).

 
Man, so much to love about that report:

@gruecd - just awesome to push him like that. Because of that, you took @gianmarco to a place he didn’t know existed, but that you know does exist. It’s that threshold where beyond comfortable, yet once you have crossed it and come out the other side you know you have changed your running life forever.

@gianmarco - You are a beast for allowing him to take you there. Because in one morning you learned SO MUCH about yourself and what you are capable of. You learned today what marathoners learn in their first marathon. And you came out the other side!

Holy hell Yan - you accomplished something on a major scale today. Wow!!!

:headbang:

 
so old and fat my legs are still sore...

Also not like I've been working out regularly the past few years

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Slowly trying to ease back into running with a tender hip.  Admittedly, its healing slower than I would like. 

I was finally able to run in back to back days.  Easy 5 yesterday and then easy 3 this morning.  I easily could have gone longer but I don't want to inflame the hip.  I'll take tomorrow off and then possibly run 2-3 straight days over Thanksgiving.  I'll bag my Turkey Trot to make sure I don't race and do something stupid.

Next pacing gig is Miami Marathon in February.

 
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