South Kingstown, RI
Sunday, March 8, 2015
1:18:57. 8th of 389. 1st in age group. Full results here.
Commute: Met up with the elusive Mike B for a carpool to Matunuck at 6:30am. I say elusive because we've been on opposite schedules for the past month or two and have not gotten together for a run in a while.
Short course: Running from our parking spot on Moonstone Beach Road, we passed the field that the final stretch of the course is on, and buried in feet of snow, it was apparent there would be course changes forthcoming. What was not apparent and was downright disappointing was that today's course would be cut short to 12.5 miles, instead of simply adding an additional cone turnaround to make 13.1.
Warm-up: Headed out for a warm-up with Muddy and Seth, while Mikey, FiveK, and Shara hung out in a heated tent. After warm-up, with temps hovering right around the freezing mark, decided upon shorts and a singlet for race attire. Got some strange looks and told I was insane (tell me something I haven't heard before), but had Muddy and Seth as accomplices with same attire.
The start: The gun went off and for the first three miles I ran as a pack of three with Chris Fox and a guy who later introduced himself as Peter Harley and that I had beaten him at Surftown. During the first three miles, there are two turnarounds where you can see the rest of the pack coming back at you. It was apparent during this stretch that were would be a few icy spots as I saw a girl go down hard. First three splits: 6:04, 6:09, 6:01.
Solo run: The first three miles felt a bit too spicy for me, and I backed off. I ran the rest of the race by myself, with almost all splits in the 6:10s. Felt like I was pushing it, but looking back at Surftown I see my splits were all about 10 seconds faster then. Guess I have a ways to go to get back to last fall's fitness. Or was I just not pushing myself enough? The long boring straightaway section on Matunuck Schoolhouse Road seemed to go by much faster this year, perhaps because with the earlier start for slower runners, I was seeing other runners most of the way out and back.
The finish: With about a mile to go, FiveK shows up to run me in. That really helped, as my final 0.7 miles was run at an average 5:55 pace. After a cooldown, pizza, and chocolate chip cookies, stayed around for awards ceremony (Muddy 2nd overall, FiveK 1st overall in FiveK, and Shara, Mike B and I picking up age group awards).
Sunday, March 8, 2015
1:18:57. 8th of 389. 1st in age group. Full results here.
Commute: Met up with the elusive Mike B for a carpool to Matunuck at 6:30am. I say elusive because we've been on opposite schedules for the past month or two and have not gotten together for a run in a while.
Short course: Running from our parking spot on Moonstone Beach Road, we passed the field that the final stretch of the course is on, and buried in feet of snow, it was apparent there would be course changes forthcoming. What was not apparent and was downright disappointing was that today's course would be cut short to 12.5 miles, instead of simply adding an additional cone turnaround to make 13.1.
Warm-up: Headed out for a warm-up with Muddy and Seth, while Mikey, FiveK, and Shara hung out in a heated tent. After warm-up, with temps hovering right around the freezing mark, decided upon shorts and a singlet for race attire. Got some strange looks and told I was insane (tell me something I haven't heard before), but had Muddy and Seth as accomplices with same attire.
The start: The gun went off and for the first three miles I ran as a pack of three with Chris Fox and a guy who later introduced himself as Peter Harley and that I had beaten him at Surftown. During the first three miles, there are two turnarounds where you can see the rest of the pack coming back at you. It was apparent during this stretch that were would be a few icy spots as I saw a girl go down hard. First three splits: 6:04, 6:09, 6:01.
Solo run: The first three miles felt a bit too spicy for me, and I backed off. I ran the rest of the race by myself, with almost all splits in the 6:10s. Felt like I was pushing it, but looking back at Surftown I see my splits were all about 10 seconds faster then. Guess I have a ways to go to get back to last fall's fitness. Or was I just not pushing myself enough? The long boring straightaway section on Matunuck Schoolhouse Road seemed to go by much faster this year, perhaps because with the earlier start for slower runners, I was seeing other runners most of the way out and back.
The finish: With about a mile to go, FiveK shows up to run me in. That really helped, as my final 0.7 miles was run at an average 5:55 pace. After a cooldown, pizza, and chocolate chip cookies, stayed around for awards ceremony (Muddy 2nd overall, FiveK 1st overall in FiveK, and Shara, Mike B and I picking up age group awards).
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| Top of the Podium Age Group Finish (photo by Mike B) So where are the other competitors? Theory 1: At my age, there aren't exactly many competitors left. Theory 2: Of the other two age-groupers, one was on oxygen and one was on crutches, so they couldn't make it up to the podium in time for the pic. |
Nice work on Sunday! You can blame the slower splits on the ice and snow if you want.
ReplyDeleteWell done! Congrats on the age group win!! And really a cone turn around? They are not your favorite!! You looked solid and focused out there!
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