Winter Series I (6.5ish)

My Winter Series experience began with a bout of food poisoning on Friday night.  It turns out that root vegetables sitting in the fridge for a month eventually go bad.  Come Saturday morning, I convinced myself that I was feeling fine.  Mile 3 told a different story. 

Cheyenne Canyon State Park was in its full beauty on Saturday morning.  The sun was shining, and I was wearing a running skirt and short sleeves in January.  The cloudless skies and dusty earth at the start didn't tell the story of the icy trails awaiting us in the hills.  Luckily, I had many encounters with slick ice without screw shoes this season, so I planned ahead and wore them for the race.  I had read the trails were 30% covered, only to discover that they were probably 50-60%.  The ice is sneaky this season, melting during our warm winter days only to form an ice luge during the cold mountainous nights. 

At the starting line, I didn't recognize any familiar female faces, but began discussing training and Duane's injuries with a guy that races and trains with Duane.  This was not a wise place to start.  I found myself pacing with males that are usually finishing while I'm at the 3/4 point.  Though this wasn't a bad start, it definitely left me feeling embarrassed as the front women left me in the dust.  I didn't hold first for long (which was not a goal...as this race tends to draw faster shorter distance girls).  However, when I lost fifth, I was getting frustrated.  When I ended up seventh, then finally eighth, I just didn't care anymore.  I think I would have competed a lot better if it wasn't for fighting food poisoning around 3.5 miles.  I can't begin to explain the discomfort that I felt during this event.  Keeping myself from vomiting, or worse, was consuming my focus.

My goal was to compete in and around 1 hour.  I finished in 1:00:34.  I'm satisfied with my performance, and I'm hoping to beat this time in my 8 mile race next weekend.  My "secret" goal is to finish in the top 3 of the Series.  Though, I know this is somewhat dependent on who continues to fight through the drudgery ahead.  I also know that this isn't a likely goal, since I'm typically 4 or 5.  However, I'm interested in seeing what I'm capable of when my goal is outside of my safety net and I push myself to limits that seem impossible.  It's time I step out of my comfort zone.