Jaclyn writes:
I am never excited about running half a mile or so UPRIVER...in a creek. Then, getting out of the water only to encounter ridiculous hills. But, hey, that's the Fall Series for ya. The race starts at the high school cross country starting line and runs, north, along the creek in Monument Valley Park. The first 1.5 miles are relatively flat, followed by a steep downhill to enter the creek. The course, loops around the creek before this point. Creek running was tough, deciding whether or not to commit to the run or trudge into a walk while trying to find solid ground. At some point, a spectator told me I was in second place. I knew he was wrong, but it made me realize that I was doing much better than anticipated. I was actually in fourth place at this point.
After the creek, I lost one place by a couple of seconds, but I was quickly losing my motivation. I was hungry, from improper pre-race fueling, and the steep hills (by steep I mean all fours on deck) were tough. I ran my heart out to the finish (31:46 and 5th female). My "secret overachieving goal" was to be in the top ten...the goal I shared was top 15, so I'm pretty happy with my result. This series tends to be ridiculously fast, and I hope to keep up my times for a strong overall finish. I've run this series as a middle-of-the-packer and a back-of-the-packer in different times of health, training and pregnancy. It's exciting to be out front.
Duane had an amazing finish at 26:59 and 11th overall. He lost some push running in the creek, mainly because of a cold we had been fighting all week. I'm hoping that we will stay in good health to race strong during this "downtime".
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