I was unable to stay away from the NUTS (Northern Utah Training Series--great acronym, eh?) 10k this past Saturday. It was more NUTS than most of these races as it was 17 degrees (instead of 24 degrees for the 5k) at the start of the race with a fair bit of wind. I can only remember one race which was colder: A national TAC race in Cincinnati—6 below zero. I wasn’t planning to run Saturday but then last week I accidentally ran 8 miles (6.2 of them about as hard as I could go) and the hip felt fine so I thought what the hell. My hip didn’t fair as well in the race even though I was only about 1:30 faster than my practice—granted it was a much tougher course with about 2 miles of hills and much much colder.
Even with the cold, it was psychologically an appealing race. Within the first block or two I dropped back to about 25th place. Throughout the first mile, which is all uphill, I slowly pasted 6 or 7 runners ending up with a 6:35 (not bad for an all uphill mile). Through mile two and three I pretty much stayed in about the same position with a group of 5 or 6 runners right in front of me. From mile three on (this is where the downhill starts) I slowly picked off the entire group and then focused on putting distance between me and them (the next runners ahead of me were a good half mile ahead). The downhill miles were faster (6:13, 6:16, 6:05). I snuck a peek behind me on the last corner: one guy remaining from the small group but he was about 15 seconds back. I refocused on my form for the last stretch, trying to hold it together as the pain increased. Just after the 6 mile mark a “fan” said, “Great job guys.” Oops, I immediately realized that the guy behind me had closed in. I tried to pick it up but to no avail—he passed me just a few yards from the finish. That was the only psychological downer but it didn’t dampen my spirits too much as I wound up first in my age division, 13th overall out of a several hundred runners, just under my goal time of 40 minutes, and first place in the series for the rugged 35-39 year olds.
Not the sub 35 I routinely and effortlessly ran as teenager and not the sub 38 I could have run last year but not bad for my higher age and low amount of training. We’ll see how the hip recovers—it’s mighty tight right now. And we’ll see if I can be a so-so runner and still enjoy it. I think I can learn to enjoy running for age division places instead of overall places, but unsure that I can avoid dumb decisions (e.g. ruining stomach with anti-inflammatories and prednisone, running injured, etc.) as all competition seems to make me a bit loony.
6 comments:
congrats! My student and I looked up the results before class today. He came in 4th.
I'm signing up for the SL Half-Marathon in June. My heart revs a little bit when I think about it. In spite of myself, I may have already become a running/race addict. But I can quit anytime. Really.
I'd love to run Scott's times but hey he has me by 15 years. He wasn't even alive when I started running!
Your post has reassured me that I have been right all along about the running. Congrats, though, on doing it and finishing and doing pretty darn well, too. I will admire your running from my figurative couch, figurative remote in hand.
your post makes me want to start training again. enough time may have passed since the last marathon to think that it might be a good idea again. maybe i'll do the SL Half too.
Go Ron! Well done my.. em... err... middle-aged compadre! It was the subtle peripheral data that you were being gained on that impresses me much. Less experienced runners (aka Moi) would not have used that info. to adjust and pour on the heat. Always thinking. I love that.
Travis
Miss you. I would love it if you and your family would like to crash at my place in Snoqualmie,WA. I miss talking to you. I just read a great book called GOD WITHOUT RELIGION. By Sankara Saranam. READ IT! Glad to read that you are still running. Love You!
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