Race Report for 35th Annual Holyoke St Patrick’s Day 10K

Word of warning to the reader - this is a longer than normal post.

First, before I get to the race, I just want to catch you up a little on what has been going on with my training. I’ve been dealing with some left tibia pain since mid-January. As a result my total weekly mileage and long run of the week mileage have been way down. I managed to run a half marathon on Feb 21st, but it was a lackluster performance and I could barely walk for the following week. Two weeks ago I finally relented and went to the doctor. I had to argue with her, but she agreed to order an xray. And while it didn’t show a new stress fracture (xrays don’t always catch stress fractures) it did show a callous on the shaft of my left tibia exactly where the pain is. This location corresponds with the fracture that I sustained in 2008. So, what I surmised from the exam was that my fascia, muscle, or tendons in the area of the old fracture are getting irritated by the repetitive motion over the callous.

This past week, I stopped running all together and focused on cross training, which I needed to do anyway now that triathlon season is here. I swam and cycled quite a bit. I’ve been throwing the kitchen sink at this injury (ice baths, massage, rest, stretching, strengthening exercise with the resistance band, Kinesio tape (see below), and OTC pain medicine.

Kinesio Tape Job

Today, I ran for the first time in 10 days. I had signed up for the 2010 Holyoke St Patrick’s Day Road Race and this race was a test for me to see if it was even possible to continue with my Providence Marathon training plan. My marathon is on May 2nd, and I am many weeks behind in my training plan. My leg felt better and the Kinesio taping helped. The sensation is still there, but it is much more tolerable and I am actually going to try to do my long run of the week tomorrow (16 miler). I’m slightly more optimistic about my chances of finishing Providence, although I predict my time will be slower than my last marathon. Anyway, on to today’s race.

I was going to write about this race as soon as I got home today, but decided to wait. I’m glad I did. I had a chance to talk with Justin (Mangorunner) and I also got some feedback from dailymile friends that helped put this race in perspective.

The Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day Road Race is a big local tradition. This year almost 5,000 people signed up to run and many of those runners, I suspect, only run this one race every year. The streets are lined with people from the neighborhoods and many have set up impromptu watering stations. This year two kind souls were nice enough to spray runners down from the garden hose as we ran by (It was in the mid 70s). And a special thank you to the family at mile 5 who set out a “FREE BEER STATION”. I am indebted to you for that sudsy goodness. After the race, runners and drinkers pile into temporary tents and have their fill of Irish music, pub food, and beer. Good times.

Now, the bad part - I was running late, as usual. It seems like I always do, especially when I’m bringing the girls. Note to self - allow extra time for doing their hair in the future. By the time I got to the race, the pack had already formed and I got stuck in the VERY BACK of the pack with all the other strollers. When the race started, we didn’t even move for 2 minutes. It took me 5 full minutes just to get to the starting line. I’ve been stuck in the back because of the stroller in the past and I always hate it. I end up spending the first 10 minutes weaving through walkers and runners, but today was CRAZY. I was weaving through people for the entire race. I got stuck behind families shuffling 4 abreast. I got cut off as runners streaked across the entire road to catch a watering station they missed. I had people come to a dead stop unannounced right in front of me. I had spectators step off the curb right in my path. I had more headphone blaring runners than I can count drift right in my line, completely oblivious to everyone around them. And my personal favorite was the kind gentleman just before mile 1 in the Pierce Celtics jersey who saw me coming up behind him and stepped shoulder to shoulder with his buddy so I couldn’t pass and then said loud enough to hear over his own headphones, “F%$# him, I’m not getting beat by a jogging stroller.” Not a lot of running etiquette out there today.

OK, now the good part - I have never seen so much spectator support for a 10K race. Most people were genuinely warm and supportive. I heard bagpipers, cowbells, and college households blasting their stereos for the runners. I already mentioned the Free Beer Station, but let me say again how cool that was. The whole downtown was alive. I met up with Diane and her family after the race and hung out for a bit before heading back home. Both of the girls were passed out by the time I pulled into the driveway.

Lessons learned - show up earlier next year. Get a sitter and run this race without the kids. This would be a fun race to run and then find a pub in which to carb load.

So, how did I do? This was the slowest 10K of my live. I ran it in 57:21 (compare that to New Year’s Day’s race time of 46:26). I did just get a bit of good news though. When the results were first published I found my name at 2420 out of 4844. Despite the stroller, the congestion, the tibia pain, and my time I felt like I ran better than that. Then I noticed that the place is by gun time and not chip time. So I looked at all the racers who placed ahead of me, but had slower chip times and found out that I got a 522 place bump. I actually finished at 1898, not 2420. That means that in 6.2 miles I passes almost 3000 runners. Just for fun I figured out that on average, over the 10K course, I overtook 1 runner every 11 feet. That’s a lot of weaving and bobbing.

Now, I know that’s not the right mindset for this type of race. This was a fun race, and not an ultra-competitive one but I think it’s funny and helps illustrate what kind of running I had to do with the stroller. Next weekend I’m running a half marathon in Westfield with the stroller. Let’s hope that race isn’t quite so congested.

Until then, have a good training week everyone and enjoy the pictures below (click to enlarge):

PS - Forgot to mention the second half of the story with the Celtics jersey wearing guy who dropped the F bomb in front of my kids - after blocking me and swearing he and his buddy sped up a bit. I caught up with him again on the hill shortly after mile 3. He was huffin’ and puffin’. As we passed him, I yelled “Hey, you want to jump on and catch a ride?” Oh, sweet vindication. I realize that wasn’t very sportsman like of me, but next time watch your mouth in front of my kids.

Before the race

Action Shot from the race. Photo Credit: Ted Tyler

Proud Finishers - Diane and I

Kids playing with a worm

McKenna with her favorite babysitter

Aubrey with THE LOOK

I run and they are the tired ones Go figure