August 2019 Monthly Running Challenge

Race Report!

Spoiler: Despite gravity’s best effort I did not die!

After running a PR mile last night I was concerned I would be able to do well to this morning. The muscle in my inner and upper thigh was sore (Gracilis? Abductor? Around there) which was a surprise, but I decided I did not care and that was that.

We get there a tad earlier than expected so that we were the third car in the lot. Perfect. I wanted to make sure I got in the close lot. Packet pickup was a breeze, and they gave us each one of those really odd backpacks that have only one strap. Not sure what to do with that. No shirt surprisingly.

Went back in the truck to wait as we had almost an hour till we would line up. And it was COLD. I mean not winter cold, it was 59F (15C), but I had been training in 85F+ (29C) specifically for this race so I was not used to the chill. Well we ran the heat in the truck for a few mins then let the truck cool down slowly. Mrs. PastorVincent (aka Kristi) fell asleep. I did not wake her until it was time to head to the starting line.

The race started well. I was near the front and took off at a decent clip. This was a bit unusual of a race as it was a single track… road race. At least for several miles. This made things a bit tough to negotiate and I was very much glad I started near the front.

The weather got up into the low 60s at some point, and it did not seem too humid. I ran through all the water stops. I wish I had a GoPro on or something because we were racing around a lake and there was a thin misty cloud just sitting on top of it. Very Cool. I almost stopped to take a picture, but again it was single track, that would have tripped up people behind me. So I carried on.

My prior 10k road PR is 49:13, so I determined I would just keep my pace under 8 mins and hold it there. The plan worked, I finished at 48:23! New PR. That makes 2 out of 4 races PRs.

After that I spent some umm quality time in the porta-potty. Not sure what happened to my GI system, but was very very glad for the timing.

Kristi finished at 1 hour 8 mins, well ahead of the 1.5 hour cut off. So we lined back up for the next race together. A 10k trail race this time. At this point water is freely flowing from my pores and I am leaving a path of water behind me. I make a bad call and leave my Wunjo Hydration Vest in the truck thinking for some hair-brained reason that I would not need that much water for “only 10k.”

Time comes for the race and we start up a steep hill. Trail is very dry but full of roots, stones, ruts, and random gopher holes. Not a trail you can look up at nature around you while you run. There were a couple of tiny pits of mud, almost all small enough that a single stride cleared. The trail was very narrow, such that for at least half the trail my ankles were brushing the undergrowth, on both sides with every stride.

Several places there was a short nearly vertical hill to overcome, I sprinted, leaped and powered over them. That probably wasted energy but I was concerned if I slowed down to take them more conservativity I would never get back up to speed. I also forced myself to run almost all the hills even if it seemed slower than walking them. I wanted a good time and knew that if I allowed myself to slow down it would be hard to power back up again.

The trail had a lot of up and downs, switchbacks, rocky terrain and such. I did fall once, and badly. I was at full pace when I went down. The moment I hit I knew I was going to be in trouble, so I sprung to my feet and started sprinting before the pain had a chance to hit. It did start to hurt as I ran, but quickly fell into the background with the rest of my pains. I am sure if I had stopped, I would not have gotten going so easily.

I sprint through to the finish at 1:18, which is technically a PR since I have never run a 10K Trail Race before. So that makes 3 out of 4 races PRs! Not a bad start.

I headed back to my Jeep, grabbed my Wunjo, took an S-Cap and then went back out to find Kristi. Found her about ½ mile from the finish and ran in with her. All in all a good race.

Pics:

Skimming posts. Well done for everyone who ran this weekend and good luck for those still to race.

My ear is slowly getting better though my poor kids, I have this annoying reverb sound that is worse with yelling and screaming. My throat seems to be getting better also but the Dr tells me as it's likely viral it could take a while.

I'm waiting till my ear is unblocked before I go running again, constant pain is not fun.

Sigh

5.01 miles today. They were supposed to be at "race pace" according to the plan, but I struggled to keep up my pace. My marathon PR is 4:45 and it's been awhile since I've seen that. My average pace today was 10:32, which would be faster than my PR and not something I'll actually see in a marathon anytime soon. I just hope I can get through under the cut-offs for my future marathons. Tomorrow is long run day.

Easy 5 miles at Shelby Farms - late afternoon and under a heat advisory, so drenched with sweat by the time we finished that I felt like I jumped in a pool. Not a bad run considering. We were the only people crazy enough to be running, everyone else was on a bike or walking, and one cyclist actually called out, “Y’all be crazy,” as we passed.

When we were starting off we could hear a squirrel yarking, and a bunch of blue jays making a racket in the same tree. Then a tiny little bluebird launched from a nearby tree and flew over, and shortly after out flew a big old hawk, with this one little bird chasing it! Go tiny intrepid bluebird! We also saw a bunch of indigo buntings.

Race 4 in the bag!

We should up and the weather was nice if a touch cool. I was surprised to see at least 1/2 dozen people there that were in the 10k with me that morning. I mean there are like 30 miles apart, and totally different kinds of runs in totally different communities.

I lined up with one of those people from the morning 10k and she was like "I am going just try to survive" and such. Well, the gun goes off and we take off. I had lined up in front, right behind the HS track team. We come out slower than I would like but my legs were screaming for mercy. I was considering bailing and walking, but like 1/4 to 1/2 mile in and everything was better. It was like I never ran that morning.

Well, the first mile or so is all uphill. This is where I shine in these small town 5ks. I accelerated to full pace and started picking people off in two and threes as we climbed. And climbed. And then climbed some more. I held my pace the whole way up to the turnaround. Then on the downhill, I held my pace which of course was a bit easier for a bit to make sure I was not pushing too hard. Was feeling good, so I picked up the pace and targeted more people for passing.

At the bottom of the downhill, there is another turnaround, then an uphill and finally the last 1/4th mile or so is falt So I start pushing harder and passing more, but one guy I just could not catch. He crosses finish like 3 seconds before me. Thankfully he looked much younger so did not matter LOL.

I crossed the finish line at 23:03. Not a 5k PR, but I beat my best time on that course by over 2 minutes and it was good enough for second in age group. (My 5k PR is on a much easier course). Not bad for my 4th race in 25 hours! I'll take it.

Age group award was a nice looking glass instead of a medal.

Some pics:

Ringbearer2 wrote: »

Ok, I feel silly even posting this, but wth. I just ran my first contiguous mile with no walking breaks! I was soooo slow (slower than walking, lol) but for some reason I am ridiculously happy with myself. Taking off momentarily for a 5 hour walk in the Heide. I think I will have earned a beer in the Biergarten at the end.

THAT IS AWESOME! You should be happy!

Do not feel silly. There was a time when literally I could not make it 20 feet. We all start somewhere. Never compare your chapter one to someone else's epilogue.

8/1-0
8/2-0
8/3-10 miles
8/4 – 2 miles
8/5 - 0
8/6 - 0
8/7 – 3 miles
8/8 - 0
8/9 – 5 miles
8/10 – 5 miles


25 of 80 miles

So yesterday was my 58th birthday and I went up to run the back half of the HM trail race I have in a few weeks. I heard from EVERYONE it was the hardest HM they have ever run. After last week’s race really scared me, and for good reason, physically I’m not where I need to be and this climb and elevation is much harder. Holy crap, it took me 3 hours to run 5 miles, most of which was the last couple miles. I got lost a few times, even with maplets I couldn’t figure out where I was, the “trail” was that hard to find, I have to say it was so so marked but the climb was so steep I couldn’t always tell if I was on the trail or not. I was going up large rocks, over and under lots of downed trees. At one point I was in a small stream, according to maplets I was right, but honestly my body was wider than the trail. This race has a cut off of 20 minute pace, after yesterday I know there is no way I can hold that pace. I was confident in my nutrition this time, I took gus with me and Honey Stinger waffles so I didn’t bonk it was just physically more than I can currently do. I’m going to tell the race director to drop me to the 10K which I’ve run before which makes me sad, but it’s okay because that will allow me to be at the finish when Skip finishes her first HM trail race and honestly that is more important.

I am proud that I went out and conquered what I truly didn’t think I could though I only “ran” 5 of the 13 miles of the course. I hung in there and I know I’ll be ready next year. I plan to continue to run this trail, which I never would have even tried to be on if it wasn’t for this trail series. My friends said do it anyway, but it’s not just about me, it’s about the aid stations volunteers, the finish line volunteers and the sweepers that I would be keeping out there, I don’t think that’s fair to them. I loved the feeling of what I accomplished yesterday, pushing myself WAY out of my comfort level, I even cried when I was done because I was so proud. I’ll go for a PR on the 10K from last year and have fun with it.

These pictures don't show the hardest part of the trail.