Sunny San Diego
XC Nationals-8k
SO, my morning started out as a comedy of errors. The boys had taken all the food items to their room the night before, as our fridge was not working in my hotel room. Forgot, and had to wake up Drew to get my yum yums as the hotel b'fast just was not going to do it for me. Drew txtd back t come get said yums, but I did not receive said txt until right before my race (hours later...) Finally, after not hearing back from me, a sleepy eyed Drew delivered said food and went back to sleep.
Drove over to the course, scouted out a team area and proceeded to do my warmup. Ran a couple of miles and did a gear check, since I could not find my singlet to bring on Thurs eve, I wanted to make sure that at least I remembered to bring SOMEHING to wear in the race...Conversated with some of the other masters when i realized that the gal at chek in the day previous (which was another MJAOR debacle...) didi nto actually give me a back bib with my age on it, a requirement to race.
Now only about 20 minutes before my race, I was sent around to 5 different people in different places to find out how to remedy my problem. Still not dressed for the race, i thrust my bib (attached to the shirt I was planning to wear) at the gal that had "helped" me the day before. She actually accused me of trying to cheat and wear a bib from either another rce or from the race that was held previous in the day. WHAT????? they could not find me in the registration (which is why if you watched the webcast they had NO idea what my name was as i finished..) I almost was not allowed to run!
At this point it is 10 minutes beofre the race...I ams till not dressed and i am SEETHING! I reminded her that she in fact finished my reg yesterday herself and also said that because I was getting so angry about her accusing me of cheating (in a national Cha mpionships??) that I needed to walk away before I said something very ugly and that the problem needed to be fixed, because I fully intended to run.
Raced over to a bathroom and chucked gear all over, dressed and barely got over to the start area. Had to speak to a race official, as I still did not have the required race bib...there was some discussion of using a sharpee on the back of my shirt...when someone magically appeare dwith back bibs. Apparently i was not the only unfortunate one...
Race was started 2 minutes early and I placed my self nearby the Boulder Republic, since I at least knew what some of those gals could run. Tried to make a funny with the gal on the line next to me and I think I actually heard a grunt...
At the start, settled into the back 25% as is my customary start (I am not that fast...and I enjoy seeing the race from behind as it develops...AND i find that the gals in the back are much more sociable than the ones up front...) Watched Colleen and the camera crew take off and tried to settle into my pace. Planned pace was 6:19's, whcih I had to back off into as I was starting in the 5's....
The course was a bit dewey, making it muche more slick than the previous day. As there were only like 60 women in the race, the course was plenty wide enough to accomodate all the runners without incident...or so I thought...In the first 2 miles, i encountered aggressive woman after aggressive woman. many times, a racer would get right next to me (and at times actually touching my shoulder with theirs) in an attempt to wipe me off on some of the interesting obstacles that were on the course. Sad part was, they were racing full out and I was just getting into my gear. SO, found myself surging away from vicious vixens, which probably put me more into the race. Found a couple of Boulder Babes that had previously beaten me and opted to try their pace for a bit. After mile 2, I noticed that it was difficult to stay on pace (not for tiredness, but because it was so slick).
the course was set up as a 2k criterion course that snaked around and inside itself, almost enitrely on grass with a couple of slight hills, that really did not feel all that bad. I htink about 2.5 miles in, I decided to make a move on the boulderites, though the move was matched and they tucked in behind me. With all the boulder support out here, lots of teammates and loved one were cheering for the 2 gals behind me. i pretended that they were cheering for me instead, which gave me a big boost. For about 800m< i tried to drop the hammer a bit to try to get back on pace which must have succeeded in putting some distance between us (thoug I could still hear folks cheering for me, er, i mean them...)
Knowing that the third loop was going to be the most difficult< i decided to not let anyone pass me to keep from getting bored, lazy, unfocused. i tried to reel a couple more folks in as well, whcih helped with my plan A. Definitely my slowest lap (though Isuspect it was EVERYONE's slowest lap. Lap 4 was all about finishing strong and trying to get in position to maybe kick in with another person to help keep my pace a bit more honest.
Found said target in the shape of a diminuitive 40-44'er and began to close the gap. For some reason< i panicked and thought that the end of the race was coming up, at which point I decided to sprint. After I passed said target without even a thought of matching the move, I realized my mistake...I still had almost .7 of a mile to go (no wonder I was feeling fresh). you can only imagine my embarrassment and other folks bewilderment at what I just did. SO< I tried to pretend like it was just a really great surge and kept trying to hammer away. Unfortunately, my legs did not like this plan and opted out. When said target came up on me, I said "please take me home" and off she went. I tucked in behind her as she gapped me slighlty, only hoping that I did not put myself in jeapordy of getting picked off by any others that might have realized my folly. treid to surge a t400m to go and really drove home at 200m, almost catching my target once more, but she got to the line before I could.
had a funny haha with said target as we replayed my goofy move from each other's perspective...
Race wise, this was slower than my last 8k by 1 minute 20 seconds. Did not realize how slow the course would come off, as it really felt like a fast course...or maybe I'm just slower than I think? Had a blast regardless of the outcome and finished in 11th.
I am thankful for the last 12 months,< as I have recently returned to running and am happy that I seem to be adapting somewhat to the training and was able to go through a training cycle without injury. In order to become faster again, I will need to step up and do some speedwork--whcih I have been holding off due to the increase in my weight.
For this next training cycle, I plan to try and drop some of the weight, while introducing some speedwork that taxes my body beyond tempo and sub tempo paces. I am also planning to increase my mileage a bit more consistently and actually follow a training plan, versus doing whatever workouts my other runners are doing (as I coach 800m runners up to ultrarunners).
SO, mostly happy with my race outcome...thoroughly enjoyed the actual race and am looking forward to this next 12 week cycle.
As far as the boys that I took to San Diego...Drew had the flattest and slowest 8k of his career and really beat himself up. He was so super pumped these past 2 weeks that he feels like he over did it in training and will be meeting with his college coach to get some help getting out of his rut. Brandon had an amazing race (only being a junior in HS), was very nervous before the race, but stuck to his race plan and was able to respond to every direction that I threw at him during the race. His finish was SPECTACULAR as well, so there is plenty more ther for him.
We stayed to watch the elites try the same thing we did, and it was good for the boys to see that even they are human too and sometimes make race errrors. brent Vaughn had an amamzing race, which was good for the boys to see, as he holds some of the Colorado High School records still. Shalane looked flawless and made the course look like butter. Kara really should wear more clothes until she has her tight bod back...but had a great race nonetheless. Renee looked awesome through 3 laps and then began to disengage. looks like she DNF'ed (very sad for her...) Abdi looked like he was struggling with the heat (which does not make sense as he lives/trains in Arizona) so wondering if he was in pain? AND one of Brandon's brother's teammates made the Junior world team!
SO, all in all, it was an amazing trip. Highly recommend folks get out and either race the next one or at least watch it if you can! |