Category Archives: Race Reports

The 2012 racing season began today with the Summit Classic 10K sponsored by Rocky Mountain Bank. This race is put on by my awesome employer, so despite getting back from Seattle at 12:00 last night, there was no way I couldn’t show up. Not that I am complaining. I always love the local races, and this community event, less than four miles from my house, is a great time for everyone. Okay, let’s get my race report started. This one is going to be shorter than normal as I am writing between visits to the bathroom. More on that later.

Pre-Race

Woke up feeling like crap this morning. Probably a combination of a long class day, travel, and a beer to blame for that. Took a look out the window and guess what I saw? You just know it: SNOW. I knew it was supposed to be cool out, but that was a bit of a let down. Especially since I was enjoying the sunshine yesterday in Seattle.

Beautiful day in Seattle yesterday.

Had a breakfast of eggs and pancakes. One cup of coffee. Two pieces of chocolate from Fran’s in Seattle. OMG. So good.

Warm Up:

Got dressed at 12:00 and hit the treadmill. Started at 10:00 min pace and dialed the speed up every minute until I was cruising around 8:00 pace about a mile in. Then alternated three bouts of one minute at 6:45 with one minute of 7:30. I wanted to try and get my body familiar with the pace I was planning for.

After that, I was sweating. Hopped in the truck and drove to the race site. Got my bib with only some minor complications. I was lucky to race today as it turns out; many thanks to Krista for helping me out. I was accidentally registered for the 5k and not the 10k. I spoke with the officials afterwards, so hopefully everything will look right when the results come out. After getting my bib on, I did some quick spin ups for two minutes, stretched, and lined up for the start. For the day, I went with a visor, long sleeve running top, technical shirt, running tights, and my trusty Newtons.

RACE

Gun goes off and I hit my start button on the Garmin.  The fast guys are quickly settling into the front group. I only was slightly delayed in the main 10k crowd before I was free. I kept telling myself not to overdue it to early. My goal pace was around 7:20 in order to PR. So of course, a few minutes in, I look at my watch and it says 6:47 pace. There are some downhills right at the start, but my new running form, what I call “ninja style”, made descending them a cake walk.

Plenty of rollers on this course, but things surprisingly felt fine as I hit the hills. I was feeling it, hurting, but barely as I rounded out the first mile. Right after the first painful uphill bump (something like a highway on ramp), some dude in a sweatshirt comes up next to me and asks if he can run with me. “Sure!” I replied. But you know us type A personalities; everything is competition. He looks young so I ask how old he is. Whew, 19. Okay, kid, if you want to run with a moldy oldy, suit yourself.

Young whipper snapper took my mind off things as we made some turns and headed back downhill. Into a neighborhood we went, essentially running into a small valley. This is reflected in my faster second miles for each loop. I looked at my watch again and sure enough; I was around 6:50 pace. Too fast, especially only 2 miles in. I pulled in the reigns in a little and sent the kid on his way. Maybe I would catch him later…

After reaching the valley floor, it was time to go back up on an annoying, long, and demoralizing hill. Aka: FUN. I settled in and focused on leaning forward, driving with my arms, and a quick leg turnover. Came over the top in good form and back to the start I went. As I started the second loop, I was feeling calm and relaxed. Time was 22:00 ish and so I was pretty happy as I knew I was heading into PR territory. The first time I did this race, I was just dying at this point.

It was also at this time that I took in three people, including the aforementioned whipper snapper. Much to my pleasure, the kid had drive and he wasn’t about to be left. He quickened up and we went side by side for the last loop. It was great to have a virtual competitor and someone to feed off. At this point in the race, we started to run into the 5k group. Love em to death, even the walkers, but as you know, sometimes it can be difficult to navigate the crowd. A small child almost became a speed bump when she stepped in front of us. Fortunately, thanks to our ninja like reflexes, we were able to dodge and spare the boo boos.

Coming into the last hill, I felt great. Probably too great to be honest. I was running slower, but I was heading to my PR goal just fine. I decided to just keep at it steady. Crested the hill in good shape and headed back towards the finish.

I love the finish of races. It’s when even average Joes like me can experience what feels like epic, Rocky quality, competition in our minds. About this time last year, I decided to speed up in order to drop some guys I was running with. Ah, nothing teaches like experience. So this kid is still with me, I know he wants to finish first. Sure enough, with about a two tenths of a mile to go, he takes off. It looks like a full sprint: breathing hard, arms pumping. Up to this point, I have been doing my best Craig Alexander: no facial expressions or body language revealing the pain within. I let the kid get about 25-30 yards on me. Out of the corner of my eye, I see another guy coming on the left. I let him pass me just slightly but then I match his pace. Final stretch, I see the kid has slowed down. He’s happy to see the finish and its over. But I have been doing some quarter mile repeats lately….

As soon as the road is straight, I let it go. Fast hands, faster legs, on my forefeet. First I leave the guy I was matching, and then about 15 feet from the finish, I pass the kid. BOOM. Two more spots.

Synopsis: 6.5 miles in 45:33. Prior PR was 6.36 miles in 46:21.

I got to admit, I was really nervous about this race. I had felt like I almost killed myself when I ran that 46:21 on the same course two years ago. I knew I was running faster these days, but I was just dreading the possibility that somehow after two years of running, I wouldn’t have made any progress. I was even more worried as my last 5k performance pretty much sucked.

Despite my fears and self-doubt, it looks like I have made progress indeed. I’m especially surprised to see that somehow I finished in less time over a slightly longer course. The whole experience also went very smoothly. There were no moments of last gasps of breath, flailing arms, or long strided, heel running. Don’t get me wrong though. There are still plenty of faster people out there and I will keep working to get better. I still have a long way to go until I’m content, but at least I am moving in the right direction.

My performance 2 years ago. Same course, but for some reason, the elevation is different.

Comparison of the numbers.

Oh, and another cool note, today was my first race as part of the Trisports Champions Squad. I want to say thanks for Trisports for the cool schwag, including my race belt and visor today. Just another indicator of the awesome at Trisports.com. Remember, you can save 10% there, anytime, by using my Champions code. Just enter IRONVAN-S at checkout!

On a not so cool note, I have been suffering the worse post race GI distress ever. This is ironic after my last post. But this is not infection related. Seriously though, I have been to the bathroom ten times in the last five hours. This has been happening more and more and I really need to figure this out. Another adventure to have in the future.

Not the podium I had hoped for.