First off, I didn't want to get out of bed. It was cold and dark. It had been raining for the last 2 days. My race yesterday was a cross-country race. I've been really tired all week, ever since I ran the hills in Louisville, and I simply didn't feel like racing. However, since I was signed up, I got up and drove to Columbus.
So why the heck was I doing this? It's suppose to be my speedwork for the week. But really, on a wet cross-country course, I'm not sure how much "speed" there will be. It will be a workout, that's for sure. Plus, I wanted the points. It's a Crossroads of Indiana points race. I know I'm not going to be able to make it to every race so I might as well get to the ones I can to get my points.
This year the Crossroads race series has a new points system. The Overall winner points are still the same: 10-8-6 for first-second-third. The age group points are different. It used to be 5-3-1 for first-second-third; now its 4-3-2, then everyone that participates but doesn't place gets 1 point. That makes the age group placing a lot tighter. Grrrr.... not happy about it but, like everything, it's a business. It's to the race series advantage to get people to participate in more races. And, overall, I do like the way the series is run. All the races are reasonably priced - $10 to $15 usually, with the no T-shirt option. It's my kind of race as I don't want to pay extra for T-shirts, medals, and swag. There are usually 100-200 runners so it's not crazy crowded either. I've run enough of them now that I know all the "regulars" and the race director cheers me on by name since I've become one of those "regulars."
So... cold wet morning. I did have the sense to wear old shoes and pack dry shoes and socks. I checked out the course. It was your classic high school cross-county course. Three loops with several hills, gullies, and you ran though, then around some trees. The whole course was flooded. Standing water everywhere. The gully was a small stream. There was mud around all the trees. This was going to be a muckfest. My feet were soaking wet within the first 10 steps. I got back to the starting area and re-tied my shoes - much tighter and double-knotted the laces. I felt like my shoes were going to get sucked off my feet with every step I took...
The race itself was pretty much awful. SO much work!!
Mile 1 - 8:41
After that, I quit looking at my watch. I think at one other point I glanced down and it said I was running at 10:10 pace. In any case, I decided the splits were irrelevant. No one was running a fast race. I was actually passing people all throughout the race but since it was three loops I really had no idea where I was in the overall placing.
It got to be such a miserable slog that I considered just jogging it out but I didn't. Here are the rest of my splits from my Garmin...
Mile 2 - 9:08
Mile 3 - 8:59
last 0.1 - 1:16
Official time - 28:01
Pace - 9:01
My shoes stayed on... barely. I had mud spatter to my thighs!
I was actually really surprised to find out I had placed third overall in the women's race. The winner ran 27:08.
Winners were awarded pint glasses
So here's my training summary for the week...
Sunday - rest
Monday - 4 mile pace run
Tuesday - 12 miles hills
Wednesday - rest
Thursday - 4 miles (felt horrible and cut an 8 miler short)
Friday - rest (extra rest day cause I still felt horrible)
Saturday - 5 miles (I think I ran my warm down on the streets as fast as my race!)
Week 16 Total Miles: 25
I'm resting again today. My legs feel a bit over trained. I'm in my taper now so I'm hoping they will start feeling better soon. I'm planning to go to Louisville tomorrow to tackle those hills one more time before my marathon.
No comments:
Post a Comment