Road to Hope 5K

First, thanks to Julie for letting me know I needed to get a chip. They handed out bibs, so I assumed that's what they were using. So as I was walking up to the starting line, Julie pointed out that I needed one. So I ran all the way back over the IST bridge, got my chip, and ran all the way back to the starting line.

I had meant to rest today in preparation for the race, but it was so nice out and there was so much to be done, I just couldn't. I spent much of morning raking leaves and mowing. So I was already a bit tired as the race began. My goal was 7-minute mile pace. Anyway I went out fast: way too fast. My first mile was 6:30.

Then we started the second, which is mostly uphill. I totally died. I didn't stop running, but I sure wanted too. I dragged my sorry butt through the second mile in like 8:25. (Although some nice girl did comment on my "Run Against Bush" shirt.)

The last mile was level or downhill, so I managed to get my pace back under control. I managed to pass a few people, including that nice girl. There was this little kid who was staying ahead of me though, and good for him. I had no kick at the end, but I managed to get in at 23:20.

Knights of Columbus 5K

Maybe it was the new shoes. Maybe it was the weather. Maybe I went out too fast. Whatever it was, I never felt right running this race today.
Going in, I didn't know what to expect. It was a new course for me, and it had been a couple of months since I'd run just 5K on fresh legs. So I was guessing I'd go about a 7-minute-mile pace, so I'd finish just under 22 minutes. I was feeling good as I drove over there.
It was overcast and chilly, with a cold wind blowing. So it was difficult for an old-timer like me to get warm. So I was eager to get going, if for no other reason than than to hasten the time I get back into my car. When the race started, I got out fast, hoping to run my way warm. But my feet felt alien, and my legs were just not under me.
Quite a few times I thought about stopping, especially when I got a stitch about halfway into it. But I just leaned forward and pushed through it. People passed me; I let them go. At the two-mile mark I was at 14:30 -- just 30 seconds behind my goal. But I knew the last 1.1 mile was mostly uphill.
I just kept moving my feet, and finally on the last uphill, with about half a mile to go, I found my pace. I powered up the last hill, passing one person who had passed me, pulling away from anyone trying to catch me.
My final time was 22:59, which was good for 45th place overall (out of about 100+ runners). I'm disappointed with that time, but I plan on improving that next time out.

Tussey Mountainback

Yesterday was the big race: our 6-man, 50-mile relay race. I'll post the complete results when I get them, but for now here's the story of my own personal effort.

We each ran two legs of the 12-leg event. My first leg was four miles, all downhill. I cruised the whole way, although I had to stop for a moment to correct a "wardrobe malfunction" (damn shoelace!). But I did pass some poor girl twice: once before the shoelace, and then again just after. I finish that segment in 27 minutes, which is a blistering (by my standards) pace of 6:45 per mile.

The thing that was difficult about this race was that there was no warm-down time. As soon as you finished your leg, you handed off the little bracelet, checked in, and then jumped into the van to move to the next transition area. There you would have some time to stretch and stuff, but I could already feel my legs tightening up. I did my best to try to stay loose over the next couple of hours, until my next leg.

Leg two for me was 2.8 miles, the first half downhill, and the second half uphill. This leg had an interesting start: first someone's support vehicle almost clipped me because they didn't look when they pulled out. Then I got stopped (yes, stopped!) behind a logging truck trying to squeeze around the parked support vehicles on the narrow mountain road. I finally found a seam to run past the truck, and he didn't pass me until a good half-mile down the road. I lost about 20 seconds to the truck, and I think I ran a little too hard to make up for that time.

Anyway, I hit the midpoint and started going up hill. Believe it or not, it actually felt really good to be going uphill. Running downhill is tough on your quads and lower back, so the change shifted the focus off of those over-taxed muscles. The good feeling didn't last though, as I started dying right around the two-mile mark. I was even thinking of walking for a bit when I saw the "1/2 Mile to Transition" sign. My, it was beautiful. The other difficult thing about this leg was that I was running alone for most of it, so there was no to use for pacing. Finally just before the transition I came up to a pack of slower runners, and somewhere found the juice to pass them just before the hand-off. The tank was on "E" after that. I finished that stage in a disappointing 21:20, for a 7:36 pace. I had really hoped to run that closer to 20 minutes.

Our team finished in 6 hours, 19 minutes, or 11 minutes better than Dale had predicted. I'm guessing that we were in the top half for our group, but the results have not yet been posted. It was a fun day on the mountain, and I would definitely do it again.

Next up: the Knights of Columbus 5K on October 9.

Nervous

I know I've been slacking recently oon the posting, but school and work are taking up all my time. They're even eating into my training time, which lately has been focused on tomorrow's big event, Tussey MountainBack.
I'm running it as part of a six-man relay team. I have two stages, which I'm told are very easy. But I'm nervous about this race, which usually I never am. I've had so much nervous energy today, it's difficult to type straight. I think it's because I'm running as part of a team instead of solo: I feel like I need to do something extraordinary to not let the team down.
Plus today is rest day, so I have all this extra pent-up energy. I think it will be difficult to sleep tonight.