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December 05, 2004
Buzz Kill
Since it has been an unusally mild December for the mid-Atlantic, I decided that I would race this weekend. We have had snow for the first weekend in December for at least the past two or three years. Today was sunny, breezy, and in the low 50s! There is a pretty good sized 10K that is about 25 minutes north of my house. Last year there was so much snow this weekend that they had to cancel the race and move it to March. When they had the postphoned race, they could not have it on the traditional course becuase they could not secure the permits or use the university. I ran the race in March. The course was horrendously hilly. After the race I was told that not only was the course unusually hilly, it was actually close to 6.5 miles, not 6.2! That definitely explained the slowness of my time that day. There is nothing like thinking that you are in pretty decent shape and then running a 10K close to two minutes slower than where you thought you'd be.
Fast forward about eight months. They moved the course back to the traditional course, which other than this spring, they have run something like 25 times. Parking was a pain in the rear, but I was able to find a spot after a pretty long detour including a cop yelling at me as I was about to turn around before the road block. I registered, got my chip, shirt (size XL, of course) and headed out to warm up. The race did not start until 1:00 which posed a bit of a problem. I usually don't eat before races, but this started so late that some kind of breakfast was in order. I ate a good size portion of oatmeal, but I felt kind of heavy in my stomach. The warm-up helped that along.
We lined up for the race. I was amazed at how many really fast women were there. They flew in a bunch of foreign runners, who ended up taking at least the top four spots. Some of the local runners, myself included, were a little bit upset about this. The community puts up the money for the race and the winners are not contributing to the community. Don't get me wrong, I understand that some of these foreign runners do this for a living while we work, but this is not Boston or NYCM-it's pretty much a regional 10K race. The course is strongly rolling. The hills are not super steep, but they aren't tiny rollers either. I went through the mile in a shade over 6 minutes. At this point I was feeling pretty good. There was no clock at 2 miles, so I'm not too sure where I was. At the three mile marker I knew something was up. The clock said 17:12...that's pretty close to my 5K PR pace. No clock again at 4 miles. Somewhere between four and five miles I started to go back and forth with another girl. She was a much better downhill runner than me, I kept passing her on the flats and ups, while she'd fly by on the downs. Something to work on next year. We went through 5 miles in a shade over 30. OK, that is pretty darn close to my 5 mile PR. I kept thinking that maybe it was a good day. I know that my 5 mile and 10K PRs are soft, so maybe. The final 1.2 miles are pretty much all uphill. The course makes a left hand turn, goes up a hill, into the stadium parking lot, and onto the track for about 350 meters. It feels kind of like the Olympic marathon to come around the track to the finish. Making the turn onto the uphill some guy was telling us what places we were in. At that point I was in 11th and he told me that I better kick if I wanted to get the last money spot. There was no way on earth that I'd have been able to catch 10th. I pretty much gave up at this poing. No matter what I did, I wasn't going to be in the money. We got on the track and the girl who I'd been going back and forth with came by me and some other woman came sprinting by us. I did close some on the girl, but didn't pass her. I finished in 38:18 by my watch. I was so happy that I ran somewhat well. The fall has been very difficult for me, running lots of subpar races. Then I got the buzz kill. We found out that the course was a block short. The had us turn somewhere too early at some point between the first and third miles. That explained why the 3 mile split was so fast.
I did a short warm down since there is no running at all next week. I've put it in writing, now I've got to stick to it. I had to wait around a long time for the awards. The top 10 are money and 11 to 20 were gift certificates. I ended up with a $20 gift certificate to a running shop in that town. It isn't too far away and I have a gift certificate to a restaurant in town as well, so I'll kill two birds with one stone some day. I think that my time would still have been a high 38 if the course had been accurate. The thing that is really irritating is that they have run this course at least 25 times. Some folks were really mad because they needed to have certified courses to set age group records, etc...
The race took up almost the entire day. I stopped in Trader Joe's on the way home to stock up on some of the food that I've run out of recently. I also need to go to the regular grocery store tonight as well since I'm out of some staples. Laundry is still not finished, two more loads to go. The laundry that got done yesterday still needs to be put away. This is all OK since there are reruns on TV tonight.
Posted by Blondie at December 5, 2004 05:38 PM
Comments
Blondie, Sorry to hear about the incorrect marking on the course and the short distance. I don't know how that happens. Don't race officials measure the course before hand? It is surprising since they have had the race 20 times before. I think you still had a decent effort. Was there a point in the race when you were close to 10th place? I hope you have a great week off from running. You will feel really ready to go after the break! - Hope the laundry is coming along! good strides..
Posted by: Mary at December 5, 2004 06:47 PM
good job in the race...i hate when the mile markers are off...i know i shouldn't be obsessed w/the time always...but it's a great check in opportunity...
enjoy your week off...you can get ready for the holidays...rest a lot...plan fun things w/friends...live like "non athletic" people...for awhile..! :)
Posted by: LIz at December 5, 2004 06:49 PM
I always wonder how mistakes with courses could possibly be made knowing full well that runners are the most obessive people there are and something like a missing mile marker could REALLY mess us up! Regardless, you handled it well and ran so strong! Congrats, and have a great week off!
Posted by: Beth at December 5, 2004 07:11 PM
Never was really close to 10th place, I spent most of the race back around 12th. The thing that kills me is that they have held this race on the same course for 25 years. I'm not sure if they put the arrow in the wrong place or the bicyclist leading the way turned too early. Overall, I am happy with the final results. There really were not any expectations today, just to go out and have some fun to see what would happen. Thanks for all of the encouraging comments. I'm going to enjoy this week and schedule a massage for recovery.
Blondie
Posted by: Blondie at December 5, 2004 09:20 PM
Sorry to hear about the short course, that is really annoying. That is a very good effort though and I am very glad you're happy with it - enjoy your week off!!
Posted by: barb at December 6, 2004 04:40 PM