Run
Comments: Got right up near the start line and met up with Robert. We chatted for a while; turns out he is into adventure racing, also. We let the really fast guys have the line; no since in being rude about it. Took off and ran about as fast as I could, but that uphill sure made it seem hard. Got a super-dry mouth from the cold, dry air and snagged a sip of water at the 2-mile aid station. Once the course leveled out some I was able to establish a decent race pace and I was still sub-21 at mile 3. From miles 3 to 5 my stomach started rebelling and I thought I was going to throw up. I never have stomach issues, but in retrospect I'd eaten too much of 3 different foods (700+ calories) and drank too much (20oz of G-ade, 19oz of Power Edge & ~10oz of water). I'd eaten like I was in an ultra race instead something that's going to be over with in less than 2 hours. A 'not thinking' mistake; it's been awhile since I've run a short race. Nothing to do, but keep running. Little by little, the bad feeling started to minimize itself as I kept up the pace. I was right at 42:00 at the 6 mile mark and that's about when you start hitting the hills. Started to slow somewhat. The fast folks were gone and I was ahead of the rest of the field, so I didn't see too many runners. I got passed by a couple of folks and I passed some others. The sweat was starting to flow, but the hands were stone-cold numb. Don't need no hands no how. I carried a gel, but never thought about taking it; who needed it after all I'd already eaten? The pace dropped off during the middle miles, but I was doing OK. The stomach issue had settled, nothing was cramping or hurting in the legs; just had to keep pounding away. Actually slowed down at the 9-mile aid station to get a half-cup of water and half-cup of Gatorade for a real drink. About mile 10, a longish, gentle downhill begins and it's the perfect place to start emptying the tank. Passed a couple of runners and that's always motivating. Turned the corner to start the last mile and uphill finish. Glanced at the watch and saw that I was doing pretty well and was going to beat the 1:40 by a good margin. Kept a solid pace all the way to the line for a strong finish. What would you do differently?: Nothing; other than eat like I'm running 13.1 instead of 50+. I probably could've dropped a minute or more if I wasn't packing such a gut-load. Ran as hard as I could for 13.1 miles and PR'd. Really pleased with the result. Coming off the DNF in Minnesota; this was a real boost. Post race
Warm down: Walked around, ate a banana half, some orange slices, drank a water. Looked at the preliminary results and confirmed what I already knew; Robert had won the AG (1:27), but I wasn't sure if I was second. Yes, there was another AG'r I didn't know about (1:31), so it was third again for me. Since awards are one deep, I left. What limited your ability to perform faster: I'm built less for speed and more for endurance (at least that's what I keep saying to myself). No speed work either because next up is the Zane Grey 50 in AZ. Event comments: This is a well-organized, medium-sized, but bare-bones race on a challenging course. No swag (advertising and a packet of fajita seasoning), modest post-race food (water, bagels, oranges, bananas), one deep awards, BUT, it's a certified course, with honest mile markers, plenty of portacans, 8 aid stations, and lots of volunteers. All the profits go to their local charities and I'm cool with that. It gets the "dash" name because they run a 5K at the same time. This race has really grown and the competition is increasing. In 2010 my 1:36 was 32nd of 750; this year my 1:35 was 59th and was won with a 1:10. As a bonus this year, they did have really nice race shirts that were designed by a local, famous artist, Benjamin Knox. Awesome graphic and quality material, too. Last updated: 2012-02-14 12:00 AM
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United States
38F / 3C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 59/1268
Age Group = M50-54
Age Group Rank = 3/37
Woke at 0450, drove the 45 miles to race site eating and drinking the pre-race breakfast.
A cold front had blown in on Friday, so we'd have perfect weather for today; cold, clear, light wind.
I had done this race 2 years ago, so I knew what to expect on the hilly course. I'd run a pretty good race with 1:36:30 and placed 3rd in the AG. I had checked the athlete list and last year's AG winner (Robert) was returning, so unless he had a major malfunction, I had little hope of an AG win.
Readers of my blog will know that all my training the last few months was geared for the Minnesota ultra, so I had no illusions of grandeur and if I could post a 1:40 or so, I'd consider it a good day.
Being a cold morning, I jogged about a mile in a fleece, sweat pants and gloves. I was going to race in shorts, short-sleeve tech shirt, and no gloves. It would be cold at first, but that starts paying off at mile 6 or 7 once things start warming up.
Took off the warm-ups, went to the start area and then had to stand around for almost 25 minutes waiting for the pre-race speeches, national anthem, etc. and another delay to accommodate the late arrivals stuck in traffic.
Tried to bounce around and stretch to stay somewhat warm.