Boilermaker 15K Race Report

Back in June, I won an entry into the Boilermaker at the Real Beer 5K. I was 3rd, but the first two women didn't want it. Earlier in the year I had been talking about the Boilermaker with my friend Kerry and her husband Joe - she was doing the 5K and he was doing the 15K - but it was sold out. I managed to nab this entry with the thought of being able to race with them! Kerry is one of my closest friends from home but since I don't go home that often, I don't get to see her as much as I'd like. So this was a perfect opportunity, plus, Joe has family that lives in Rome, NY which is basically the town over from Utica, which is where the Boilermaker is held. Perfect. A place to stay! Joe was nice enough to pick up my packet for me during the day.

After my 16 mile long run in the heat on Saturday, I spent the afternoon attempting to recover with my compression socks on, AC blasting, and replenishing fluids. I left at 5:30 to make the 2 hour drive to Rome to meet Kerry there. It was fun to meet some of Joe's family and to hang out a bit before we headed down to the basement where we were sleeping. I did not get much sleep.. I was feeling uncomfortable and I couldn't put a finger on why. When I "woke up" at 5 am, I knew something was amiss. I had definite UTI symptoms (if you're a woman who has had one before, you just KNOW). There wasn't much I could do about it as it was 5 am on race morning so I got dressed and opted to drive myself to the start (so that if I still didn't feel good after the race, I could leave and not have to ruin everyone else's fun). We dropped Kerry and Joe's mom off at the 5K start and then Joe, his dad, and me proceeded to the 15K start.

Joe's dad and Joe before the race

me before the race

I ended up completely losing both Joe and his dad in the porta potty lines. I came out and neither of them were anywhere to be found. Apparently Joe experienced the same thing.. said he felt like he was in the twilight zone. After trying to find them for 10 minutes, I gave up and peed again and then went into my corral. I talked to the people standing around me which was fun, and then eventually the race started. I had briefly thought that I might *try* to PR this 15K (since the only 15K I have ever run is Spring Forward Distance Run in Mendon Ponds Park which is both early in the year and quite hilly), but after about 15 seconds of running, I KNEW it was not going to happen. So I settled for Plan B - enjoy myself and try to execute my workout that was on my training plan - 8 miles (ok, 9) at marathon pace which is 8:09 for me.

It was a struggle of a race. It was extremely muggy out, I was uncomfortable from the UTI, and my legs were DEAD from the 16 miler the day before. But I persevered.

Finished in 1:16:33, 8:13 min/mile, 63rd in my AG (F30-34), 342nd female. My Garmin had the course a little long (of course, lots of people to weave around) and subsequently had my pace to be 8:09 min/mile. So this will be something to plan for in the actual marathon.. need to run faster than the Garmin is saying, or manually lap my splits to match the splits on the course. I could do this with my regular Timex watch or I could turn off autolap on my Garmin. Not sure what I will do yet.

The afterparty was RIDICULOUS. I am not really an outdoor festival type of girl, so it really wasn't my "thing" but I was definitely impressed. I didn't drink a beer because of how yucky I felt. I basically found Kerry and her mother-in-law, and then we wandered a bit to wait for everyone else to finish.

Kerry and I are reunited

me, Kerry, and Joe after the race

me, Kerry, Joe, Joe's mom Andrea

After the race I hung around for a little but eventually wanted to hit the road because a) it was starting to sprinkle and b) I wanted to go to Urgent Care to take care of my "issue." Fun. I'm not sure how long they stayed after I left but hopefully in the future I can go back and enjoy myself a little more! Definitely a fun experience!