My entry into the barrier run up in the men's Elite race at Night Weasels.I am in the thick of event season. We seem to have our weekends full of race support. No doubt I have been burning the candle between race event support, travel, and balancing home with the girls. The girls & Ker' have been super patient with my event support.
After a solid weekend in Gloucester we were slated to be the official bike support at the Night Weasels race in MA. A mid-week night race under the lights on the off camber of a ski mountain organized by the crossresults.com & HUP United crew it was going to be an event of sorts; no doubt.
Matty B and I set up early the team tent lounge, bike wash support & pit tent area. Washing /cleaning started at 4:30 and ran through 11pm. The course had the bikes rolling in caked in split seed grass 1.5 inches long & thick. Took two of us to scrub and wash each bike, typical turn around of 3-5 minutes/bike. Too many comments that folks found it so strange the company President & Vice President were thick into our knees in suds, scrubbing bikes. Let me address this. Our company was founded in grassroots during the MTB explosion in the 80's. It is typical to find any of our employee's at any time deep in the muck entrenched in worrying more about another rider than themself, so seeing myself & Matty B washing hundreds of bikes was exactly how it should have seemed, appropriate. Thanks a ton to Jeff Bramhall (Internet www.thejeffreybramhall.com) for hours of washing alike
After washing in mid to upper 40 degree weather for hours; I jumped into the men's elite race. Now mind you I have gone on and on about my NO training for the 2010 cross season. It is true I have NOT been training but rather running more than holding the drops (all in caps to make the point, so as you don;t laugh about my results - and I have every excuse nailed down). Combination of event support for our company, work hours, travel schedule, about to be a father again for # 4, etc, I have spent NO time worrying about training, so.......the thought of racing 60 minutes of a men;s elite cross race in the company of Myerson, Bold, and good company was sure to end as a shit show for me. I managed an ok performance, finished my first 60 minute cross race, and had way too much fun racing in harsh conditions infront of a tough crowd! This leads to this weeks running race....
After a tough & hilly cross country 10 mile training run Saturday in the forest & woods of Litchfield, NH I decided with Ker' to run a 5K in Milford, NH. It was an early start but the money would go toward the Milford HS track program. Seemed the registration would get over 150 runners in the 5k alone, but there was also a 10k run. We had family visiting from Montreal Canada, so 6 girls and I crammed into Ker's car and we hit the road on coffee and good will.
The 5k let off at 9am, toeing the line was a ton of local HS kids, a few collegiate kids and some local legit racers. I figured to sit in somewhere in the top 10 thruogh the first 2 miles then make a decision.
It didn't happen as planned. At the gun I was second stride behind one of the collegiate kids (Alec Davis). He looked WAY too comfortable in his stride. There was no first mile marker but I recalled from the drive in there would be a second mile marker. At the 5 minute mark I watched as Alec's stride turned over at an interval pace and we was making ground on me fast. On his heels was a very legit looking racer (Jim Sullivan). Jim was sitting on Alec's heels and they now had about 200 meters on me. Behind me, no one as far as I could see.
I figured if I sit in the pain funnel now I could end up in third. At a corner turn heading to the 2 mile marker a lady standing on the side said to me "here they come".....I looked back to see a small group working to bridge to me. Wait a minute, the one doing the work on the front was the young girl I saw warming up with the kid running in first, and she was closing on me fast.
I worked on my 10 second leg turnovers, quick turnover (6-8 strides) every 10 seconds on and off. An old trick my ol'running coach taught me on how to turn a gap over fast. It was working I was pulling away from the group. I knew we only had a few turns left before we hit the track for the 300 meter finish but I was in the pain funnel.
The 2 mile marker had me at 11:37 split for 2 miles (5:48/mile pace). I have been doing NO speed work so I was in another place (BPM - 183 = maxmaxmax). With 2 solid hilly climbs to go I kicked the interval pace again. I had secured 3rd place as I hit the track for the final 300 meters. The lead runners only had 100 meters on my pace but I did not have a youthful kick so sat in the pain funnel through the finish.
My Polar had me at 18:22 result show 18:25. Good for 3rd place overall, and a 1st place in my age group. I was more impressed by the 15 year old girl that finished behind me. Apparently a sophmore at Milford HS Courtney Hawkins. I don't feel to bad as she seems to be very legit with a huge future ahead of her.
Training Week of October 2-9
Monday
MTB RIde - winnie castle - 75 minutes
Tuesday
Run 6 miles (time - 40 minutes) (5k in 21:29 + 30,60,90 sets of 3)
MTB Ride - 80 minutes easy ride
Wednesday
CX Race - Night Weasels - Men's Elite Race
Thursday
Day off
Friday
Run 6 miles (43:40 minutes)
CX RIde (easy) 3 laps of Providence Course - 30 minutes
Saturday
Run 10 miles trail run (time 1:17)
Sunday
5k Race 18:22 + warm up
Totals for 10 2-9
Run Mileage - 25 miles
Bike Time - 190 minutes (3 hours +10min)
No comments:
Post a Comment