Another year, another Winter Series. TL;DR – 8 races,
points based on finish, high quality courses, cheap entry fee, and a lot of
fun!
The mystery through history is kind of the odd ball race in
the series. Most of them are 5Ks, but that’s not the case with this one. In
fact, the distance changes year to year (anywhere from 3 to 5 miles)!
Fortunately, this year I was paying attention before the race and heard the
director state the distance. Well, sort of. I knew it was 4 point something…
In addition to the distance, the course was described. From
the grunts and groans that filled the air, I realized that the hills would be a
challenge. However, being from Front Royal, I thought maybe this was just the
flat landers and treadmillers talking.
NOPE! Have you ever heard your grandfather talking about how
he used to walk up hill, both ways,
to and from school, in a foot of snow, barefoot? Welp, I found the hill he was
talking about.
The first mile went well. I started out slower than usual (a
new thing for me), and was hoping to build up the pace. I had the lead pack in
sight on long straights and knew I was around the top 10. “Good,” I thought. I
can settle in, work the hills, and then crush the finish.
NOPE AGAIN!
Alright… it’s been a while since I did a hill workout. Hell,
I took a long time off from running in general since the Richmond Marathon. And
the “workouts” I did were not intense at all. But these hills were tough. They
weren’t huge. They weren’t long. But they were constantly rolling. I’d recover
on a downhill and then my heart rate would spike again going up the next knoll.
All I could do was focus on the 3 people ahead of me, and hope to stay with
them.
Fortunately, one of those three was Brenda – a staple to the
SVR running events. I passed her early on and then she reciprocated the favor around
mile 2. I hate being passed, so I needed to stay close.
Climbing back into the woods before the finish, I felt
refreshed and ready to rock. But so did Brenda. I followed in her shadow as we
reeled in the other two guys ahead of us. She then slowly pulled away with
every stride, but with less than .75 of a mile to go, I knew I had the guts to
pass the other two.
(Heading towards the finish. Photo by Karsten Brown)
The woods section is enjoyable, but deceivingly long.
Fortunately, I remembered my trail shoes as the trail is chunky rock. I blew by
the two guys (whom I later found out went out EXTREMELY fast and gassed out)
and focused on my finish. Though Brenda was now out of the picture, I opened up
my stride on the straight, downhill finish. As I crossed the finish line and
looked at the time, I wasn’t impressed; but I was still happy.
4.1 miles, 27:24
elapsed, 6:34 pace, 8th overall, 1st for my age group
20-29.
No comments:
Post a Comment