Run Through the Grapevine 8K - Run8k


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Mt. Airy, Maryland
United States
Howard County Striders
45F / 7C
Sunny
Total Time = 44m 31s
Overall Rank = 185/516
Age Group = M 40-44
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Woke up at 5 a.m.; had a bagel and coffee for breakfast. Drove to race site to sign up.
Event warmup:

Jogged around for 10-15 minutes and stretched. Played some basketball with 8YO daughter.
Run
  • 44m 31s
  • 8 kms
  • 05m 34s  min/km
Comments:

Started out a little too fast (8:10 first mile) which came back to haunt me a bit. Really struggled on the steep uphills and probably walked 5% of the course. Just about rolled my ankle several times on the rough terrain (I never run on trails, so I'm not used to it). Hit mile two @ 17:00. Third mile was the single-file path area through the woods, plus another uphill section. Didn't see any mile markers after the second, but obviously my times really slowed down as I went along. I desperately just wanted this race to finish.

I didn't kick at all and was very happy the lady who finished behind me didn't force me to sprint. :-)

Final time of 44:31, which I'll take given the difficulty of this course.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing really, maybe slow down a bit the first mile, though I doubt that hurt anything.
Post race
Warm down:

Milled around watching my wife's aunt finish. Noted that no one looked happy finishing; they just looked relieved.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

No trail running and didn't really prepare for the race.

Event comments:

This is the final race of the year for me. Since the HM last month I haven't done much running and have been focusing on swimming for the most part. I also haven't run any trails and haven't raced a cross-country run since high school.

This course is freakin' brutal. Uphill, downhill, sidehill, gopher holes, grapevine branches, roots in the woods. I would have much rather hiked it than run it. Very pretty, though. This is also a pretty competitive race with almost 600 runners.

Howard County Striders did a good job running the race. Nice t-shirt which I didn't get because I signed up day of race, but I got a discount on the entry fee because of this. Good post-race food, etc., and everyone hit the tasting room afterward.

My feet and legs are killing me next day from the brutal assault.




Last updated: 2010-11-05 12:00 AM
Running
00:44:31 | 08 kms | 05m 34s  min/km
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 185/516
Performance: Good
Course: Brutal up-and-down course through the Linganore Vineyards property. Very steep uphills and downhills, lots of sharp turns, sidehill slopes. Two sections are single-file paths through the woods that require walking they are so steep. You are never running on a flat surface.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Too hard
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? No
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4