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Week 103
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Greetings 50+ racers. Aahhh, how good it feels to be back home in the Bluegrass! We spent Sunday in Wisconsin, flew back to Arkansas on Monday, and drove home Wednesday. I managed 35-1/2 miles on 4 (sort of) days and 5 (sort of) runs. The log looks as such:
Sun: 7.7 easy (along Delavan Lake in Wisconsin)
Mon: 0
Tues: 0
Wed: 1 easy (but I gave up)
Thur: 10 easy-to-moderate
Fri: 7.0 progressive 7:30->6:10 over first 4 miles + post-run
Sat: 9.8 (4 am easy + post-run, 5.8 pm w/ 5k race: 18:31)
Reflections:
-Didn’t run Monday and Tuesday in rural Arkansas (see last weeks post as to why)
-Drove 7-1/2 hours to get home Wednesday, where I immediately went to a 2-hour meeting. My intention was to run home from the meeting, but after a mile, I had to acknowledge that I was exhausted, so I hopped a bus.
-Thursday was meant to all be easy, but I ran into a club member and as we chatted, we picked up the pace for a few miles with a couple of sub-7 miles with one around 6:30
-Friday, I just started running and slowly picked up the pace for the first four miles before easing off and finishing easy.
-Saturday, I ran 4 easy in the morning, thinking that I *might* run an evening race. Given the sporadic training and the miles I’d put on the previous days, I was on the fence….but I went ahead and ran it. Boy was it hilly! Happy to finish in 18:31, although I think it was a bit short; I think for an honest flat course it might be worth about 18:25 (based on other finishers times and their recent races on known flatter courses.)
For those that enjoy these things, here’s the race report (somewhat redacted and re-editted) that I submitted for our club newsletter:
Race Report: KDA Kearney Cancer 5K & Fun Walk, May 25th, 2013
I normally wouldn’t post a race report for a local 5k, but this was an inaugural event and it was a different experience from most 5k’s that I’ve run. My wife and I are grieving the loss of her father to pancreatic cancer just a few weeks ago, and I thought that running an event that benefited the Markey Cancer Center in his honor would be a fitting tribute. Surprisingly, with all the turmoil this spring, this was also my first road race of the year! This evening race was originally scheduled to be at the Kentucky Horse Park, but too many conflicts at the park had them almost cancelling the event hosted by the Kentucky Dressage Association (KDA). Luckily, the owners of the Mt. Brilliant Farm (North of Ironworks Pike, off Russell Cave Road) stepped up to the plate and offered their pristine and expansive horse farm to host the race. After registering for the event at the Horse Park, we gathered to take buses for the 6-mile ride over to the farm. Given the logistics, it took longer than expected to cart all the runners on multiple trips (and one of the drivers got lost), so the actual race started about 1/2-hour late. In the mean time, we just gathered around the barn near the back of the property; this barn was clearly designed for entertainment purposes, complete with a hoedown theme and party lights. I spent the time warming up, but also talking with a few of the runners before the race, especially fellow BGR club members. Kentucky Ale had kicked in $1000 prize money for the winners, which brought some fast guys….including local masters phenom Kevin Castille and a cast of about five or so recent collegiate runners to give him a run for the money. When the horn finally went off, managed by the usual John’s Run/Walk Shop crew, the mass of runners headed from behind the barn down the one lane road on the property. We went about 1/4 mile before taking a right on what would be a large loop over rolling hills. As we ran down the first long hill, I thought to myself: “Oh lordy, we’re going to have to come back up this thing!” and just at that moment, a group of about 10 horses decided they needed to race us down the hill. Needless to say, they easily showed us up and streamed off into the distance. For me, I just tried to keep up with the lead woman, who I knew would be running about my pace. We hit the mile too fast for my liking, although it was mostly downhill. The second mile proved much tougher as it undulated over several hills, and included a small excursion down a steep hill to run by the barn that once housed the famed wonder-horse Man-O-War. No time for tributes as we circled back up the steep hill. With all the fast guys gone, the lead woman and I headed back up this steep hill only to find that the next three runners were women and were within striking distance. She laid on the gas and gapped me up this steep hill and then down the next long descent with the intention of putting some distance between her and the other lead female runners. At the bottom of this next hill, the road crossed a creek, but the farm owners built a one-person wide foot bridge specifically for the event so that runners wouldn’t have to navigate the slippery creek bed. We hit the two mile, and our pace had dropped a bit, but now we had to climb back out of this valley up that long hill that brought us down here. With my legs heavy, and not having raced all spring, this proved to be a difficult climb and I lost a few more steps to the lead woman. Mercifully, the top of the hill arrived with only a 1/4-mile to the barn and the finish line. Kevin Castille bested the college studs in a time of 14:28, and the best woman finished a few seconds ahead of me. I won my age group with a time of 18:31, which I was pleased with all things considered. After a cool-down run, while the rest of the runners/walkers/dogs/baby-strollers finished, we headed back on the buses to the Horse Park. The awards would be handed out at the Rolex Arena, where a dressage competition was underway. At the arena, they had set out a buffet with grilled chicken, beans, coleslaw, apple cobbler, and beverages for the runners. At intermission, the race winners were given their winning checks in front of the crowd. Otherwise, there was not a formal awards ceremony, as the rest of us just picked up our awards and took photos with the Kearny family while taking a break from our tasty meals. (Note to my LRC readers: there was more unessential personal stuff that I added at this point that I’ve deleted for this report.)
That’s all I’ve got for this week. Hope you all have had great weeks!
Happy Memorial Day!