Canterbury 5k

I had some trouble with my oblique and glute so I skipped the Wednesday night thing the following week.  I did put in some quicker than normal miles (some sub-7 pace lunch runs) and may have done a bit too much of both miles and quick stuff.  I definitely felt flat on Saturday morning (05/14) as I prepared to return to the Canterbury 5k XC race.  They were using the same two loop course I’d run last fall.  I’d run 19:52 two days before my hip surgery so this would be a good point of reference, or so I thought.  With temps in 80s it was a far cry from the 43 degrees back in October!  I hoped to run an even race and crack 20 minutes again.  I think this course is tougher than the old course with a two tough little climbs on each loop.  I got in a nice warm-up on the course with Ernie Brake.  I hydrated a bit and changed into race flats, could have used road shoes the course was bone dry.  Nearly 200 entered the race and 132 finished (I think most of the missing were those who entered the CARS series which is a ‘best of’, so you can miss a couple and this is usually the lowest score since it is by far the slowest race).  I got out well and kept saying to myself “relax”.  The effort felt good and I was in 6^th place for most of the first lap.  I passed a couple of guys on the hill  but I had hoped to be 9:50 (or better) and was not happy to hit the start line in 10-flat.  Flat being the correct word as I felt like I had nothing in the tank.  I kept pushing and only glanced back once (on a 90 degree turn so that ‘technically’ I wasn’t looking BACK).  I could see Ernie Brake not far behind and up ahead there was no one in sight.  The final hill was hot and a slog and I felt bad for the people just heading out for their second HOT loop as I was heading up the final extra hill to the finish.  I finished the second loop in 10:11 which I cannot complain about, only 11 seconds slower than lap 1.  I grabbed a water and sat in the shade to collect myself as people came in.  After that I hooked up with Sam Wood and we headed out for what seemed like the 20^th time around the course.  It was fun catching up with Sam and sharing our hip woes.  Just as I was finishing Ernie and Jay Smith were heading out so I ended up getting in yet another loop.  I finished the day with a nice (although hot) second warm-down.

 

1          19:09    Ethan Dodenhoff           19        1 MOPEN          Concord, NH

2          19:53    Sam Wood                    35        2 MOPEN          Laconia, NH

3          20:11    Warren Bartlett             24        3 MOPEN          Loudon, NH

4          20:26    Dave Dunham               58        1 M5059           Bradford, MA

5          20:56    Ernest Brake                 60        1 M6069           Sutton, NH

6          21:04    Geoffrey Terragni          42        1 M4049           Concord, NH

7          21:16    Matt Deschuytner         35        1 M3039           Canterbury, NH

8          21:23    Terrence Ferns              53        2 M5059           Sutton, NH

9          21:39    Brendan McCauley        30        2 M3039           Copenhagen, NY

10        22:19    Michael Barry                65        2 M6069           Northwood, NH

11        22:38    Elisha Dodenhoff           19        1 M1519           Loudon, NH

12        22:42    Kara Haas                     51        1 FOPEN           Chelmsford, MA

13        23:14    Olaf Woodall                 16        2 M1519           Lee, NH

14        23:28    Phil Brogan                   36        3 M3039           Concord, NH

15        23:36    Graham Hayslip            30        4 M3039           Canterbury, NH

16        23:51    James Smith                 63        3 M6069           Concord, NH