St. Louis Frostbite Series 20k

The short:

My husband needed to go to St. Louis this week, and I told him that if there was a race there on Saturday I'd go with him. I found the St. Louis Track Club Frostbite Series 20k and registered for $20 the day before. The race was a lot bigger than I expected (over 900 runners between the 20k and 5k!) and a little longer than I expected, but I also felt better than I expected to! There was snow on the ground in Forest Park, helping the race live up to its name, but it was really nice out for the morning of January 6 in Missouri, at 33* with virtually no wind.

I ended up running 1:25:32, which was 6:43 pace for 12.73 miles per my Garmin (Strava said my 20k was 1:23:36). I ran the first half of the race at 6:46 pace and the second half at 6:40 pace, finishing with 6:37, 6:31, 6:30 so I think I got about all I could have out of myself on the day. I ended up placing 4th overall female, after running in 3rd for about half the race and getting passed with less than a half mile to go, so that left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth - but I was still mostly pleased because I gauged my effort well and ran way under 7:00 pace, plus Premium Strava said to subtract 4-5 seconds for grade-adjusted pace!).

Results are here, my details here.

My activity on Strava is here.

The long:

I wasn't sure how I'd feel for the race having raced the Chilly 5k five days prior, not adjusting my training to account for racing since it wasn't pre-planned, and doing no training focused on long-race prep since October (although you could possibly count the Jack is Back 30k as one). I'd debated on whether to run my hill workout on Wednesday or Thursday that week, and ended up doing it Wednesday so I was glad for that at least! I looked up results of the races in the series that had already taken place when I registered, and from those I figured it was doubtful I could win overall female, which made it easier to not care if I didn't feel good and needed to make it into a moderate long run.

We left our house at 4:15 a.m. on race morning. I brought breakfast and planned to eat around 5:00, but ended up falling asleep until 7:20, which is quite late for me! The race started at 8:20, so being only 30 minutes out from my warm up I didn't want to eat anything. I had a couple of gels so figured I'd use one during my warm up and one during the race.

Jon dropped me off at the race and I picked up my number, used the bathroom, and started my warm up. The Frostbite series is a 5-race series, with a short and long race each time. I found the 5k start on my warm up but had to ask a few people where the 20k started. I found it with about 10 minutes to spare, so continued my warm up jog, took a gel, and stashed my throw away shirt (which I got back after the race, so wasn't throw away this time). I only had time for 1.6 miles of jogging and 2 strides, but I figured I'd just ease into the race and be fine. During my warm up I saw many, many fast-looking women and it seemed like a larger percentage of people were warming up than usual, which made me feel like the race was going to be competitive.

The grassy areas of the park were snow-covered, but the roads were just wet. The temps had been warm enough that the snow didn't last on the roads, but they were a little sloppy and the bridges were slick the first time we crossed them (they seemed to melt after that, I imagine from cars and runners going over them). The temperature was 33* and I ran in a my uniform very thin long sleeve shorts, shorts, and gloves. I ended up being both cold and hot during the race, and wished I'd worn a tank top and capris instead - though if I'd worn that I might have wished I'd worn long sleeves and shorts!

The race consisted of two laps of the course, with each lap including two out-and-backs. The first out was only about a mile, then we went around a round about. It was easy to see what place I was in, which was 4th female. There were also what seemed like 50 women right behind me. The second out and back was longer and much hillier, and had a hair-pin turn. Again, I was in 4th female with what seemed like 50 women close behind. At that point I was going back and forth between "I'm going to catch the two in front of me" [it seemed #1 was a lost cause because she was so far out, which made sense once I realized who she was] and "50 women are going to pass me!". But I was also focusing on and reeling in men one by one.

I was gaining on woman 3, so that kept me going from about miles 4-6. I passed her a little before halfway, and got excited that I was in 3rd! The course was a bit of a cluster from about 5-8, because we were running through slower 5k runners, the faster 5k runners were leaving the parking lot right off the course (the roads weren't closed to traffic), volunteers were waving 5kers to turn, and then when I was coming back lots of other 20kers were going out. I was relieved to get through that part. I was going to take my gel at halfway but forgot about it and didn't, so this wasn't my best fueled race.

I started feeling really great on the second tour of the course, and kept picking off the men in front of me. I saw fewer women close to me on that turn around the round about, and started feeling confident that I could go with anyone who tried to pass me.

Mile 10 included a long uphill, a gain of 82 ft per Garmin (on the first lap it was during mile 4-5). It wasn't steep but just long. I knew it was coming since we'd run the course once, and I kept reminding myself that I'd get to go back down it. I also told myself that it was to my advantage because it would take some of others' speed, plus I've been doing hill work. I caught and passed a man on it, which helped keep me going. As I approached and went around the hair-pin turn, I learned that there was no way I could catch the women in front of me, but one woman behind me was dangerously close and also running with a man she seemed to know. Though I was tired, I also felt strong and like I'd be able to push the end. The man who I'd passed going uphill passed me back when the course flattened out, and I went with him. It was hard to stay with him but I kept telling myself it was easier with someone else and I needed to stay with him to stay ahead of the woman.

I was able to stay right behind or beside him, and as we passed the 12 mile mark I started feeling confident I wasn't going to get caught. But then I heard footsteps and a man talking behind us, and it was clear the man was coaching the woman to go by me. I mentally prepared myself to fight for position, but when she passed me she was hammering it and I couldn't hang. I felt strong and finished strong relative to my other splits, but unfortunately I didn't have what she had. As we made the final turn one of the volunteers said something like, "2nd and 3rd woman, who wants it more??" and I guess I was really hurting at that point because I thought "she does." (also he must have missed a woman because we were actually 3rd and 4th).

The guy in gray was the one I ran with for the final
 few miles, woman in green had just passed us here

After it was clear I wasn't going to get her, I didn't hammer quite as hard as I should have for the final bit, but it was also on a curvy sidewalk that made it very difficult to run fast. Jon got back just in time to see me run by on her tail then he ran to the finish. He tried to take pictures in the rush that didn't come out great, but at least they show the snow on the ground!

Finish

I stopped my watch to see it showed me as averaging 6:43 pace, which I was happy with! I wasn't sure I'd be under 7:00, and don't look at my watch during races so had no idea what I was going to end  up with. All of my miles were under 7:00, even the 82 ft hill. The course read 12.73 on my watch. I don't think I've ever had a certified half read more than 13.25, and rarely have they read more than 13.15-13.20 unless they have a ton of turns. With this one being two out and backs I'd buy 12.50 or a smidge more for a 20k but not 12.73 (most others on Strava had 12.65+ too)! Plus they have a certified half that follows almost the same course and it is barely longer than what we ran for the 20k. Strava said my 20k was 1:23:36, and of course Strava isn't perfect either but had it been certified I'd probably have run 1:24-something. With non-certified races you get what you get and everyone in the race gets it, but everyone in that race should get credit for faster paces than the results show...especially me, hahaha!

I decided that I was first place masters female; the overall female was also in masters, but since she got overall I took her out of the very unofficial masters standings. I admit I am using a double-standard here, because when I have won both overall and masters I thought I deserved both, but this is my blog so I can do what I want, right? The race did not have masters, but I have to take my victories where I can find them. I am getting better about being happy with running well for me "right now" instead of being upset about running slower than I used to, which is probably the biggest victory of my 2024 races! I also wish Springfield had a cheap multi-race winter series like this; I'd love to do all 5 races but driving to St. Louis that many times in a winter seems excessive.

Elevation gain per mile, in feet, with my splits:

1. 3 - 6:39
2. 16 - 6:47
3. 36 - 6:52
4. 69 - 6:48
5. 49 - 6:48
6. 23 - 6:43
7. 23 - 6:42
8. 16 - 6:33
9. 30 - 6:47
10. 82 - 6:57
11. 33 - 6:37
12. 30 - 6:31
13. (final 0.73) 20 - a little faster than 6:30, I stopped my watch 3 seconds after I finished