Run with the Wind 25k

The short:

My training buddy Colin and I were planning to run 15 miles at 50k pace within a 23 mile run on 2/19/22, so when I saw the date for the Run with the Wind 25k (15.55 miles), I thought maybe we should run it for our workout. Then I saw that if I ran about my 50k goal pace I could break the 25k state record for my age, and that solidified the plan. I ended up setting the age 41 state record with a 1:45:37, winning overall female, and hitting my 50k goal pace almost on the nose with a 6:44 average. It was also my first time racing during a 100+ mile week! Colin won overall male, and my friend Amy who came for a steady pace hilly Boston training run won her age group and set the age 50 state 25k record!

Running half the race distance at pace was also pretty humbling. I'm not sure why I thought it would be easy, but much like running 12-13 miles at marathon pace during training is exponentially harder than the first 12-13 miles of the actual marathon race for me, running 25k at 50k pace was no walk in the park. I don't think I could have really run any faster than I did even if I'd gone in with the plan of racing all-out. Amy said that the challenging hills in the race were harder than Boston's, which made me feel better about dying up one of them, and made me certain this was good Boston training in addition to good 50k training!

Results aren't posted online, but the race sent them out in a spreadsheet that I included a partial screenshot of below.

25k state records are here.

My Strava activity is here.

My fast friends & our awards

The long:

I've run this race 3 times previously, in 2010, 2012, and 2015, which was enough to know that 1) you never actually have a tailwind the entire way, 2) it's hilly, and 3) 25k state records are generally easily attainable since it's not a common race distance. The race organizers announce the night before the race which direction it will run, and this year was Sarcoxie to Carthage, which means primarily a west and north route. The wind was behind us going west and we had a headwind going north.

Because "Run with the wind going west & against 
the wind going north" is much harder to fit on a sign ;-)

My running buddies and I decided to drop a car at the finish first, then drive to the start together so we'd be in control of our return time and make it easier for the volunteers who were driving people back (no shuttles at this one!). Amy and I met Colin in Carthage, and just after I jumped back into my car after peeing behind a building while waiting for Colin to arrive, a guy drove up and asked us if we were going to Sarcoxie. I said yes and he asked for a ride. When then pulled around to where Colin had just parked, and I got out of the car and told Colin, "I met a guy while peeing," which wasn't 100% accurate but I found it humorous. The man's name was Brady and he, like 99.9% of runners, was really nice. Everything before the race took longer than planned for various reasons, so we only got in a 2.4 mile warm up instead of the 4 miles we'd planned.

This race used to be pretty good sized for the area (~200), but this year it was tiny at 32 participants. You kind of assume that a race that small won't be competitive, but there were a man and woman on the starting line who looked fast and had on Vaporflys.  When we took off, Colin and I moved into the lead fairly quickly, but they were right behind us. After we put a little distance on them, Colin told me that he'd heard them talking before the race about starting easy then cranking it down. I was not in the mental space for really truly racing, but I told him that if they came up on us I was going to go with them because I wanted to win the women's race. I also told him that I didn't mind if he and the guy went ahead of me if he needed to race for overall male. Our race plan before then was to run 12 miles together at 50k goal pace (6:45) then we had the option of fast finishing from there if we felt good. When we turned into the north wind, I told him that if the man and woman caught up to us, I was going to tuck in behind him because the wind sucked and 6:45 pace is harder for me than it is for him (though it's both of our 50k goal paces, the differential between his half and 50k pace is much larger than mine is)!

The pace felt really good for the first stretch going west, which was pretty flat and with a tailwind. I kept an eye on my splits to keep from going too fast. When we turned north into the wind, we also hit the first of the bigger hills, with a climb of about 60 ft. Colin is a much better uphill runner than me, so he gazelled up the hill while I sucked air for the first time of the day. Once we crested the hill I caught back up, and we passed one of the four country houses with three dogs that came out to chase us. They were all bark but no bite, but strange dogs during a race isn't ideal, especially for Colin who got bit last year when we were on a 22 mile 50k training run. When we turned we took a look back and saw we had probably a minute on the next two runners, which made me feel pretty safe about our overall leads.

That stretch into the wind was pretty short (~half mile), then we turned back west for about a mile before another half mile stretch that was into the wind and had another tough hill (about 50 ft of gain in that one). We then got another mile of running west with a tailwind before turning into the longest stretch against the wind, which was about 4.6 miles long. I was timing my nutrition and thought we were about to hit mile 8, then my watch beeped 9 and I was pleasantly surprised - always great to learn you're a mile closer to the finish than you thought!

Mile 10 was a gradual incline of about 50 ft, with an aid station at the top of the climb. When Colin spotted it, he told me he was going to run ahead to the porta-potty there. He floated up the incline in front of me and I took the opportunity to back off slightly because I wasn't feeling very strong on the hills. When I passed the aid station the volunteers excitedly told me, "You're in the lead; he took a bathroom stop!" I told them not to worry, he'd catch me back quickly. I tossed my gloves at the aid station and continued through while Colin was in the bathroom, but a few seconds later he was out and back in stride with me. The next mile felt easy because it had a lot of drop (80 ft), but then mile 12 contained a pretty steep 80 ft climb. When I saw it I told Colin I'd stay as close to him as I could, but I know from training that steep climbs are pretty much the hardest thing for me. I can tackle a long gradual hill FAR better than even a really short steep one. Power is not my strength!

Tossing my gloves at the aid station
while Colin was in the bathroom

Colin pulled away from me dominantly on that hill. I climbed up it the best I could, and my left hamstring gave me some shooting pain in the process. I think it was the combination of carbon plated shoes (the only time my hamstrings bug me) and the hill, but I slowed to a shuffle/almost walk for a few steps to alleviate it. That did the trick so I got up the hill and continued to watch Colin pull away into the distance. After the hill we had about 2 more miles into the north wind, and I just kept telling myself it was going to get much easier when we turned back west!

It did get easier when we turned west, but anytime I tried to push my hamstring yelled at me, so I settled into steady and scrapped the possible fast finish. I was also feeling pretty fatigued and doubt I could have managed it even if my hamstring had felt great. I could tell Colin was doing the fast finish, as he was pulling steadily farther ahead of me. I knew that there was one more turn, into the Carthage High School parking lot to the finish line, so I just kept hoping for Colin to turn, and when I saw him turn left I gauged how much I had left. I stayed steady and finished it up.

Country road racing!

Colin was waiting for me after his overall win, and we went to his car to change shoes and get nutrition. We had 5 more miles to run since our warm up was shorter than planned, so we headed back out on the course to cheer Amy in. She was in her last quarter mile when we got back out so we didn't have to go far! We cheered her in, and somehow she managed to run 2:00:00 exactly - although they were hand-timing and I told them it was really 1:59:59! This was a new state record for age 50.

Colin and I continued jogging around while Amy got some things out of the car, and conveniently enough she had a 3.5 mile cool down, which was exactly what we had left when she was ready to start. We ran out 1.75 miles on the course and back, cheering on everyone coming in. It was pretty lonely out there so I like to think we helped! I was pretty fatigued, and it was one of the most sluggish death marches long cool downs I've done - and that's saying something, based on my history of making races into really long runs!

After finishing up I foam rolled in the parking lot while Amy stretched, then we all went into the high school to put on dry clothes, to enjoy post-race food, and to attend the awards ceremony. They had hot soup as part of the post-race food, which I'm really appreciating at these cold races! 

No way is she 50, right??!

In addition to my overall female award, I also got an award for setting a state record and another one for the top age-graded performance. I was actually #2 on that, but first place went to the race organizer, who ran 7:20 pace for 15.55 miles at age 69! I was so impressed by him. I tried to make him take it but he said he'd made it and wanted me to have it.

I can have a meal off my awards

The day was full of laughs and memories. Though I wish a 25k at 50k pace had felt easy or at least moderate, post-race I've put it a little more in perspective, especially while writing this post. 1) 13 miles at marathon pace in training is always terribly hard for me, 2) I was in a 104 mile week, 3) I started said 104 mile week already fatigued due to racing the Cabin Fever 20k in a 5 degree wind chill last weekend, 4) about 6 miles of the race was into a 14 mph wind, and 5) the course was challenging. Here's hoping that 6:45 pace is do-able for twice the distance on March 26!

I have three 25k state records still - I had
age 31 but it was broken in this race. 41 is
my fastest even though I truly raced the 
other years!