Black Moshannon 10K

Yesterday was the 25th annual Black Moshannon 5K and 10K. Last year I ran the 5, this year I took on the 10.

First, I have to give some small props where they are due: I checked the forecast on AccuWeather.com before I left, and they were predicting ran for an hour or so from 10am-11am. It started raining about 15 minutes into the race, which started at 10. But before they get all proud of themselves and use this testimonial in a press release, I should point out that it rained for next 5 hours, rather than ending by 11 as forecast. Oh well, half right is better than none I guess.

Anyway, the main thing I'd heard about this race was a big hill, starting at about 1.5 miles. I'd heard one of the veterans say that the hill goes up and up, then rounds a bend before it levels out. So I ran that first mile and a half pretty easy, and started the long, long climb. I've pretty much got my plodding technique down: I just ate away at that hill bit by bit. Finally at the two-mile mark I went around a bend. I could see the top in front of me, and I decided to attack that last little bit.

Unfortunately, that was one bend too soon. As I reached the top, and turned the corner, I saw that it climbed another 200-300 feet. My inner warrior failed me, and I had to walk for about 20 yards (although I did pass another walker). So here's a lesson for me: scout the course before you craft a strategy to run it.

After I got back to running, I got a second wind almost exactly at the midway point. Suddenly my stride was long and easy, my breathing was in a nice rhythm, and the miles started falling away. Each of the last three miles was 7:30 or less. Despite the cold rain that was falling, I was feeling great.

I'm not sure what my official time was; something like 48:50. I'll post it when I get it. I still haven't decided if I'm doing Boalsburg tomorrow. If I'm up early and I feel like it, I'll do it.

Sidewinder 10K

The short description for this race: it hurt.

For this race, we met at Whipple Dam, and then a bus drove us up these winding, narrow logging roads to the race start. As we rode, I tried to get a feel for the layout of the course. I knew it was more downhill than uphill, but I also knew there were a lot of sharp climbs. I was happy to note that for every hill I had to run up, there was a corresponding downhill leading up to it. But there was a flaw in that thinking.

On a bike, you can rest going downhill, and then using the kinetic energy to propel you up the next. Running, however, does not work that way. While it is easier to run downhill than it is to run up, you still don't exactly rest on the downhill. And that momentum you gained is quicly dissapated on that flat section at the bottom of a roll.

Still, I was running well for the most part. An early climb had hurt a little, but I crossed the 3-mile mark in just over 22 minutes. That had me on a pace to finish the 6.2 miles at around 45 minutes, shattering my goal time of 48 minutes. Then, just after the 4th mile, there was a long, long hill. It had to be almost half a mile. Why did I not remember it from the ride in?

On a hill like that, you have three choices: (1) run it as hard as you can, and hope there are no other hills after it; (2) just getting plodding up, focus on your breathing and just keep putting one foot in front of the other, or (3) give up and start walking.

In my youth, I definitely would have chosen option 1. But my energy is not so boundless anymore, and I figured if I'd forgotten about this hill, maybe I'd forgotten another. But there was no way I was walking, so option 2 it was. Cresting a hill never felt so good; I was flying down the hill. So much so that I caught a bit of a stitch, and had to back it off a little. It actually felt good when I started up another hill, I got the rythm of my breathing back, but emphasis on different muscles, etc.

I hung on for the last mile, just hoping for the finish. In the last tenth, I felt someone on my shoulder, and it was just the push I needed to bring it home. I even passed two people who had passed me in the last half-mile. I finished 47:40, good for 23rd overall (out of 50 finishers) and a personal best for a 10K. I was exhausted and sore, but happy.

You can view the complete results, albeit in a weird "adjusted" form, here.