Motivated to Succeed

Haven't had the best training recently. School has been absolutely insane with xc, seniors, juniors, and of course teaching 6th grade geography! Haven't run since last Monday so not sure how the race was going to go.

WARM-UP: (.75 miles @ 9:52 pace) Got to the race about an hour and a half early up in North Adams. Got my shirt and bib number and then went and parked about 3 blocks away at the Big Y supermarket. I needed to be able to make a "getaway" after the race, as there is a parade afterwards for several hours and they block off the south bound side of Route 8. Jogged up and down Main Street and a couple side streets. Came back and stretched near the church. Thought about my goals: A) Sub 23:00  B) Sub 24:00 C) Anything under 25:00.

THE RACE:  (3.11 miles in 22:44; @ 7:18 pace)

The race started without a hitch. I lined up in the third row and just prepared for the ride. The opening .5 was downhill on Main Street, followed by a left, up and over a bridge out of town, a long uphill and circle before turning around and coming back uphill. A tough course. We went out way too fast. I was in about 50th place at the 1/2 mile mark and I was running a 6:30 pace. Soon people started peeling off as they were tiring. I was still holding my own and though I was slowing down to my 7:20-7:30 pace, I was moving up places. Got up to as far as 32nd place and even with the first overall woman (who beat me by about :45 seconds). I just did not have enough in the tank at the end, which is understandable considering I have not done speed work OR much running for that matter in the last week. Stayed strong and listened to no less than six of my BArT kids cheering me on saying "Go Mr. Griffin!" or "Run faster shorty short shorts!" Crossed the finish line pleasantly tired, tied for 37th place overall.

COOL DOWN:  (2.3 miles) After finishing the race I did a short cooldown, stayed for the awards ceremony only to find out I did not place in my age division because I was in the 19-29 age group. They had a 13 and under, 14-18, and 20-29 :(. I think they should have split it into 20-24 as the top 3 places were scooped up by 28 and 29 year olds that were in a different league. This was fun and I can't wait to do it next year!

Not long now until the wedding!! 

3:40 PM - A little cool, but I was overdressed in a sweatshirt with the kids today. We did a warmup up and over the golf course to the field on the bike path. 5 x 1 laps increasing pace. The last 2 I did incredibly hard, really trying to push A.C. and K.L. who seemed to be struggling a bit but they are definitely capable of good times. Cooled down back to BArT. 3 miles total.

3:40 PM - Ran with the team, 30:00 total. Warmed up, stretched, 1 x loop of the Adams cemetery, followed by up and over the golf course, running with a few of the 7th graders towards the back of the pack. 5 x 1 lap increasing pace before a cool down. Felt good and really pushed it on a couple of the laps, despite still being a little sore from the race on Sunday. 4 miles total (7:30 pace)

Ran a bit at the xc meet today. It was raining buckets and there were just puddles everywhere! I did the best I could to support the kids who were disheartened about the rain. Many of them ran faster than several weeks ago, but some did not run the times they had wanted. I tried to explain to them that you can't improve every single race, all the time. (1.5 miles of jogging from one part of the course to others cheering them on). So proud of my BArT runners!

 Not long now until the wedding! 10 DAYS!!! EeK! 

11:30 AM - Gorgeous fall weather in MA. Temp around 56 degrees and sunny and blue skies. I met at the HVHS, about three miles from BArT. Some of my runners were already there waiting for me. So nice to see them at a meet. This was at the same location as the xc meet on Wednesday. The course was still wet, but what a huge turn around from last time! Entry fee was only $5.00 and it looked as though BArT was representing. As it was, only 14 ended up starting and 13 finished the race. Very small, but fun!

WARMUP: (1 mile @ 9:28 pace) Ran from the finish, through the woods following the last mile of the race course. Noticed that a lot of the course was still muddy and wet. Was not the best footing. Got back and stretched and told the kids not to worry about the race. Goal was to run the whole race (which some ended up doing, others not so much) and have fun!

THE RACE: (3.11 miles in 24:54, 8:00 average) From the gun, a lone runner from HVHS took the lead and I followed him for the first .5 miles Ended up passing him as we went into the woods, not intentionally, but he seemed to start slowing and falling behind. I slipped a bit on the long uphill portion, but then relaxed and started to cruise on the downhill. Hit the first mile in 7:54, and then the second in 7:58. Right after that mile, I got lost. The course was well marked, except crucial markings had fallen down because of the wind. I had to stop for a good :25-:30 to wait for the second place guy to come up and tell me which way to go. I got back on track, though my last mile was 8:35. I was afraid that I had just blown my win for good, as the 2nd and 3rd place runners had been steadily moving up. However, from Mile 2-2.5 there was a long uphill, the same one from the first mile. I started to pull away and opened up a :10 gap on him, going into the last long downhill. I pulled ahead and fought through the tired legs as I rounded the last corner and opened up on a 200m flat line to the finish. I looked over my shoulder once, sure he was closing but I didn't see him! I ended up distancing myself from the 2nd place runner who ran a 25:19, :25 seconds behind me! 

This was the 3rd race I've ever one, the other two being a short 3 mile race at a winter HMRRC event, and the other the 1st Annual St. Rose Relay for Life 5k when I was in undergrad. This really was a pleasant surprise!

COOL DOWN: (1.4 miles @ 11:05 pace) I did a .5 mile cooldown backwards on the course to find some of my runners and Coach Lynn. Ended up seeing a few of them doing really well. A.U. was running really well in her second race! Came up on Coach Lynn and Elissa who was struggling a bit. I ran the last .4 miles of the race with them, talked to them and then decided to go back and find our last two runners who had had a rough day and were walking. One had borrowed a pair of running shoes that she had never run in before. I came around a bend and saw her carrying the shoes in her hands, walking. I should have known at the start of the race - I had looked over and they appeared 1. too narrow for her feet, 2. a size or two too small, and 3. not good running shoes for a trail run. Oh well, live and learn. Ran them in and sprinted with Tibby the last 200 m. I owe him BArT bucks because I challenged him to sprint the last bit with me and I lost.

All in all a lot of fun. I got a couple apples and a nice pumpkin out of winning. Next up is the Monroe-Dunbar 10.5 miler on 10/10/10 @ 10:00 AM tomorrow! Back to back races... awesome!