Winter Series II (8 mile)

Jaclyn writes:

Let's be honest.  I love this race.  If you aren't from the area, it isn't the best scenery, mostly a wide trail that runs along a dirty creek (unfortunately, that "trail" is now concrete).  However, if you are from the area, the out and back course is flat with a very slight uphill on the way out and slight downhill on the return.  I consistently do well on this race, probably making it my favorite.  The day was really windy, too.  Hoping for a PR, the wind was strong enough to make me slightly nervous (though, maybe a little relieved that I might have an excuse for not achieving my goal).  My previous PR from 2009 was 1:08:28.  I trained really hard with a great coach during that season.  So, I was a little unsure about my goal to maintain between a 1:04 and 1:06.  I thought this was a reasonable objective, given my training times.  Nonetheless, I was intimidated, because I haven't had time to train consistently and seriously from a "coaching" standpoint.  My finishing time was 1:05:12, and I clocked my distance at 8.1 miles.  Overall, I'm really happy about this.

The race and my performance got me thinking about my training and running goals.  I'm either setting really reasonable goals, or I'm not setting my expectations high enough.  So, here I am in a conundrum regarding what I would like to do in these next two races.

The Baptist Road race is also flat and can be fast if the weather is agreeable.  But, the weather is never agreeable.  It's always seemed to be the "are you tough enough" race, where people drop out because there is an ice storm, or something of the like.  The Black Forest race is long, lonely and hilly.  I know my long distance trail training will give me a better time than I had in 2009.

I'm unsure how to use the next three weeks to prep myself for these races.  Maybe I should be setting my expected mile times lower in my workouts and in my races.  The approach I have had seems to be working; but, maybe I'm really not challenging myself hard enough.  I'm fifth in my age group, and might be able to take the two runners above me.  I smoked them in today's race, but they really had me by a long shot in the Cheyenne Mountain race.  On one hand, they might not be distance runners.  On the other, they might've had a bad day.  It's really the game we all play when it comes to stats, races, and a running series.  I don't even know what these girls look like, but I'd love to beat 'em.     

Duane writes:

I'm so grateful to be having the best season of my life. I credit Aspen. Really. We go to bed earlier than ever before and last night she slept through the night (except for a 3 a.m. feeding, but I mostly sleep through those except for the diaper change) and she even slept in this morning until 7:30ish. We don't drink casually anymore or go to clubs. We eat in and eat well. So when people say that I've gotten really fast this season I joke and just say I don't know why... but it's because I'm finally behaving like a runner in training. Thanks Aspen.

This race was rough. The wind hit like a hammer and I made a rookie mistake which I totally knew was going to happen. Early in the run, I was bantering with a great local runner named Sean. We were hanging back in the middle of the front pack and we were just cheering the 4 milers who were on the return and talking about the race and stuff. I said it felt like at almost 40 years old I was finally learning about running. Before the race Sean had said I was getting fast. He's a really good runner and that was a great compliment. He also said he was going to just train this race, cruising the ebb and pushing the flow. I wanted to push now, so in the next mile, I pushed to the front of the pack and became the wind break for everyone who wanted to tuck in behind. And there I stayed for the next two and a half miles, right up until the turn around.

Then the two guys who had stayed right behind me, drafting like smart, experienced racers, jumped in front of me and took off with the wind at their back. I was 4th at the turn around and twenty steps later I was 6th. Sean was still hanging out with the pack at, I don't know, 12th or something.

I got into my head and drove myself. I knew both racers, a little. The first guy was the same person who caught me in the last 100 yards at the last race. The second guy, Joe, and I had talked a little after the last race and even though I had beaten him at Cheyenne Mountain, he was ahead of me now and looked strong. At mile six, when he dropped his pace a little, I advanced and gained the spot back, but there was too much distance left to feel comfortable. The fourth place guy was still in my sights so I pushed to keep within 20 seconds.

I pushed harder than I can remember ever pushing in a race, talking to myself a lot, and when I was almost at 7 miles I was getting comfortable with finishing 5th.  Suddenly, and this is important, because it was sudden, another runner was on my right shoulder, close enough to talk quietly. And then Sean said great job, sort of over his shoulder, as he passed me. I chased him to the finish, but never closed the distance. I guess I still have a lot to learn about running.