This Saturday was the Living History Farms Off-Road Race. I discussed the history, magnitude, and difficulty of the race in a previous entry. Since the end of the girls cross country season, I have spent three weeks preparing for this race. I’ve done more hill runs, runs on single-track trails, and more speed work. I also made some changes to my race plan from a year ago............
First off, I altered my shoes. A year ago, I wore track shoes equipped with half-inch spikes. But, the first 1.25 miles of the course is gravel road and pavement. The repetitive pounding actually curled some of them over giving off a look more resembling elf shoes than spikes. So this year, I put shorter spikes in except for the front two which will be helpful for hill climbing. The spikes held up nicely this year.
Additionally, a year ago after exiting the water each shoe felt pounds heavier and it took nearly 30 seconds to feel like I was running again. So, I drilled holes into the heels of my shoes and cut holes with a knife in the toe box so water could drain. It was incredibly effective. I only felt dead feet for 2-3 steps. Also, I had planned to go without socks to help with the water weight issue, but the in-sole from my 1996 freshmen year of high school spikes were as soft as sand paper and blisters were imminent.
Another game plan change was to run a little harder in the beginning of the race. A year ago, my plan was to run relaxed and have fun while hoping to place in the top 50 out of 8000+ registered runners. It worked, but I wondered if things might have gone even better if I ran harder early on. The first half of the 7-mile course is fairly flat, non-technical, and completely dry, which allows for ease in jockeying for position. It’s much harder to pass someone while climbing out of a 2-foot deep creek with an 8-foot bank. Not impossible, but harder. A fellow competitor (seen climbing out below) commented after the race about how I jumped over him en route to passing four people at the first creek crossing. I take pride in my gazelle-like jumping ability and spider monkey-esque climbing ability that allows me to avoid using any of the ropes throughout the race.
My final race strategy change was to follow the sign for the long-easy route at the fork in the road. A year ago, I took the short-hard route. Throughout the race, I had counted my places, but ended up placing 1 spot worse than I counted. So, I assumed someone had snuck around me by taking the long-easy route. I was determined to correct that as well.
I set three goals for the race. First, I wanted to run faster than a year ago. Second, I wanted to place in the top five in my age division. Third, I wanted my team to place in the top 3 out of about 265 teams. The hardest goal was the second. I placed fifth a year ago and I knew from the registrations that the top 7 from my division were back and I also knew of a fellow runner who aged into my division that is very good. I accomplished all three goals. My time improved by 29 seconds. I placed third in my age division and my team also placed third. As an example underscoring the difficulty of the race, of the top 14 finishers in my division, 11 came from out of state. Anyhow, the place winners earn some really cool hand-crafted pottery as awards as seen below.
Despite, meeting my three goals, I leave the race feeling a little empty. First, that’s my nature to always want a little more, but in reality I know I left a lot of time out on the course. The long-easy route was a big mistake. I was within arm’s reach of a teammate at the intersection. Yet, when my route rejoined the short-hard runners just 45 seconds later, my teammate was disappearing up the next hill almost 15 seconds ahead of me. Three additional runners also passed me due to that error.
The other part of the race that cost me was stomach cramps. I had a stitch the entire way from mile 3 through mile 6. Every step I took sent a ripple of pain through my mid-section. I felt at times that I was just going through the motions and unable to propel myself. So, even though my legs felt strong and my breathing was unlabored, I could not overcome the pain. There is youtube video of the creek crossing at 5.5 miles into the race both this year and last year. It is painfully evident that I was not feeling well this year and that I was flying last year.
See for yourself and decide if I looked “flat” this year. In video #1 (2010 race), I come flying through the creek crossing (I’m wearing a white top and red shorts and enter the shot around 8 seconds in) Video#1 - 2010 Race. In video #2 (2011 race), I come through much more gingerly (wearing ISU behind the Team Nebraska runner around 40 seconds into it) Video#2 - 2011 Race.
In all, I ran the best race I could … on that day. I pushed hard and when I began cramping up, I never gave up or intentionally slowed down but instead I made every step hurt. A big part of me had hoped to make 2011 my last year, but I feel that I was so far removed from running what I was capable of that I need to do it again next year for redemption. I even sacrificed the night before and turned off the ISU vs #2 OSU football game before overtime so I could get extra rest. I woke up to fireworks celebrating the ISU win, but still, my head was in the right place.
Race day was also my sixth wedding anniversary. So instead of resting when I got home, I let my wife take a nap while the kids slept. Having two kids under the age of three is a challenge and both were preemies, so we have lived a protective lifestyle for quite some time. For our anniversary, though, we got babysitters for the first time ever (other than grandma). Courtney and Martha, cross country seniors, watched our kids while we went out. We had a great time and hopefully the girls did too. By my surprise, Natalie, who cries by the sight of strangers, actually fell asleep in Courtney’s arms.
Here is my training for the past few days.
Wednesday, I ran an easy five miles with Courtney and Lauren through Brookside Park. We talked a lot about track season, but otherwise the run itself was pretty routine. Total: 5 miles – 35:57 (7:11 pace).
I took Thursday off, which I generally like to do if I am really hoping to run a strong race two days later. Then, Friday I ran an easy five miles with some loops at Moore Park with Courtney. Total: 5 miles – 36:55 (7:23 pace).
Saturday was the race and I did a mile warmup, a 2-mile cool down, and the 7+ mile race. Estimated total: 10 miles – 1:06:00 (6:36 pace).
For the week (Sun-Sat), I hit 49.5 miles in 5:37:35 or 6:49/mile.
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