The next morning, I slept in a bit, before heading up to Estes Park to run the Frost Giant 5K and 10K. The Lawrence's, Bill and Emily, had convinced me earlier in the week to do this race. I thought it sounded fun, and now was sorta happy, because it meant I got to sleep in. When I started my warmup, I wasn't so happy, and began to wonder about this decision. My legs were pretty dead from running the Mesa Trail the day before. I didn't do much running really to warm up. Instead, did some drills to loosen up and get slightly prepared.
Now this is a 5K "and" a 10K. One can do both. The 5K starts at 11, the 10K at noon. It's a great deal. 38 bucks total on race day for both races. The course is a mix of roads and running thru MacGregor Ranch. And thru meaning across the grass. No trail. Most of the ranch was hard packed with little grass, so it wasn't bad footing. Only in a few spots were there holes, uneven footing, or snow.
The 5K (see map) starts uphill at about 2-3% grade and climbs a mile before entering the ranch. It then gets a bit steeper for a quarter mile before leveling off. Then its slight downhill thru the field, before getting back on the road for a downhill last mile. At the start, a group of 5 guys quickly pulled away. I fell into a decent rhythm, but was passed by another 2 guys. Went thru the mile in 6:24. After the course leveled out and began going downhill, I started to close the gap on the 2 ahead. From about 1.5 miles to 2 miles was into a strong headwind. But oddly enough I felt good and closed the gap to about 20-30 meters. Mile 2 was mismarked. My split was 7:42. I am assuming this was for 1.1 miles, so mile 2 was more like 7:00.
On the downhill, my legs didn't feel really fresh. I debated how much effort I wanted to put into catching the guys ahead. In a normal 5K, I think I could have made it close. But with the 10K looming, I just kept an honest effort, running the last mile in 6:05 and finishing in 8th with a 20:12. Not too bad. Still, I am worried about the 10K. The 10K course is a bit harder. So a 20:12 5K might mean a 45min+ 10K. The thought of that did not excite me.
Now years of running overnight relays, where one runs then sits in van for 4-5 hrs, runs again, sits in van and finally runs again, has gotten me used to running hard on seemingly tight, tired legs. It really has almost become an afterthought. The biggest key is to not worry about the fact your legs don't feel well during your warmup. And to keep the warmup simple. Once the race/next leg starts your body quickly finds something to get it going.
So 39 minutes after finishing the 5K, I stand on the starting line waiting to go again. A small problem with an ambulance delays the start. The problem, it won't start, and needs a jump. And it is sitting in the way of the 10K course. Luckily no one needed the ambulance today. After a few extra minutes, it gets a jump start and moves out of the way.
The 10K course starts up a different hill than the 5k. This one was steeper. I found the my legs actually felt good. I moved up quickly and found myself in a pack with 3 others. After a mile, this pack began to split apart, with each person running alone, with a separation of 25-50m between each of us. Upon entering the ranch at 1.5 miles, I had pretty much pulled away from the pack following me and had thoughts on a top 3 finish. Ahead of me in third was Rob Mandje. He had cruised to victory in the 5K, but didn't appear to be doing well coming back in this 10K. I thought it would be nice to be able to come back and beat him in the 10K. The gap stayed fairly constant thru 5K. My splits were holding on as well, in fact I was negative splitting.
Mile 1 : 6:51 Mile 2 : 6:31 Mile 3 : 6:18
That would be roughly a 20:15 5K split. The same as I ran the 5K race earlier. I think I frustrated my dad when he was my high school track coach, because I constantly ran the first 1600m of my 3200m race faster than I ran the 1600m race earlier in the meet. The 1600m was just too short. Now, it is apparent that a 5K is too short.
After 3.5 miles my thoughts of catching Mandje in 3rd were fading. I wasn't dying but the gap was slowly, inch by inch, growing a bit bigger. A missed turn at a cone in the 4th mile cinched it. I wasn't getting 3rd. But I had enough of a gap, that slight mishap didn't cost me 4th. Mile 4 with the extra few yards was 7:37, then 6:30 for mile 5 and the final 1.2 was in 7:39 (or approx 6:20 pace for the last 1.2). That is a pretty even effort, especially on tired legs. More proof that maybe I am best suited for ultras. Anyway, finished 4th overall with 41:27.
The Lawrence's were too far behind me. Emily took home 1st overall for the women. Bill was a few steps behind. You can see a short video of them running side by side at about the 3 mile point on the Estes Park Trail Gazette website.
At the post race raffle, I won a $20 gift certificate for the liquor store in town, so it really was worth the drive up to Estes Park. Also stopped at Colorado Cherry Company on the way back and picked up a cherry pie. I would highly recommend stopping by for a slice of pie or taking home a whole pie. Definitely 5 Tail Wags. This is full on butt shaking, tail wagging, goodness.
Speaking of tail wags, will add a quick brewery review. Our race numbers got us a free beer at the Estes Park Brewery. I had a porter along with a chili burger. I had been warned before that their beers weren't too exciting, but this one was free so what the hey. Well, their reputation was correct. The porter had no taste. After a hard effort like today was, most any beer will taste good, or at least be refreshing. This one almost made it over this extremely low bar. But it didn't. Food was okay. I realize this place, like many in Estes, cater to the tourists and don't really have high standards.
Food : 3 Tail Wags (maybe a little high because I was starving so most anything would have been good)
Beer : 1.5 Tail Wags
Service : 3 Tail Wags
Ambience : 2.5 Tail Wags (not a bad location or place, but the tourist gift shop as you walk in really makes it seem trashy)
Overall Rating : 2.5 Tail Wags
Overall Rating for the day : 4 Tail Wags.
And I will leave you with these fine words from Robert Burns
Epigram On The Said Occasion
[On A Henpecked Country Squire]
O Death, had'st thou but spar'd his life, |
No comments:
Post a Comment