I was feeling a bit beat all week, no doubt due to the Loon Mountain race which didn't really make me sore but apparently left me sluggish. I took it fairly easy all week and even stuck with only a single run on Friday before the race. I got to the race pretty early and got a parking spot in the lot nearest the start/finish. It looked like teammates Leslie O'Dell and Tim Van Orden got there very early as they had the first two spots (maybe they car-camped!). It was great to see TiVO. He didn't run at Loon due to a foot injury but it turned out that he had torn his Plantar Fascia and couldn't make it worse by racing so here he was. We hooked up with Mike Narcisi (Sisu racing) and warmed-up by doing the last 1.5 out/back on the course. It is always a good idea to check out the course, or at least part of it, prior to the race. It was rocky, twisty, and rolling. Not my kind of race but, GAME ON!
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| Hundreds of these out there |
I switched into my Inov-8 racing flats and did another easy 1/2 mile to check out the start. We'd have about 4/10ths of a mile before switching from carriage road to single-track. Typically that means some fast running to establish position. Not something I'm very good at as I get older and slower. About 300 runners shot out at the start and it wasn't too bad. I caught sight of teammate Jim Pawlicki who I hoped to key off of. I also saw that fellow 50+ runner Chris Smith (SRR) was out there running well. Kassandra Marin was leading the way for the ladies and a couple of places ahead of me, which is typical as she can start quicker than me.
I did a quick count (since I like to know these things) and came up with 23 or 24 people ahead of me as we hit the single-track. I settled in behind Kassandra and was amazed by how quick-footed she was, bounding from rock to rock. I was just trying to not get hurt out there. Slowly Chris Smith pulled away and was out of sight. I was hot and a bit thirsty and looking forward to the half-way water-stop. Soon after the water, we had a long stretch of dirt road and Jim P absolutely HAMMERED. He was there and then he was gone. Before we exited the dirt road Mike Lubeck (GLRR) went by. He had gone out conservatively and started moving on up. He would be the only person to pass me in the race. I passed Kassandra with about a mile to go before the end of the first loop and could see Chris about 30 seconds ahead. He started to slow right before the end of the loop and as I passed through in 34:30 I thought I had a shot at him.
It was good to know what the course was like, it made the second lap go by a bit quicker (mentally not actual time). I pushed pretty hard with 100 meters to go before the single-track and got around Chris. Soon after I caught a guy ahead of me and focused on the tattooed gent about 10 seconds ahead. He would be the carrot leading me along for most of the second loop. I seemed to close on him on the more technical stuff (go figure!) and he'd do better on the faster stuff. I never got closer than 5 seconds behind him and never fell back more than 15-20. It was a bit crowded over the last 2 miles as we were catching people on their first loop. I was passing one lady who zigged, zagged, and then zigged again causing me to come to a full crashing stop. She gave me grief about not "calling out" and I gave her grief about "not sticking with one side". I had another run-in with a lady who was upset that again I didn't call out...I assured her I did (she had on headphones!). None of this impacted my race, just got me riled up and probably did the same to them.
I hit the finish in 1:10:21, so my second lap was 35:51 compared to my 34:30 first lap. Not too shabby. Again, I was glad to not break and ankle or something out there. I did catch a sharp rock right on my arch (and it is quite tender, despite icing multiple times already). I'll keep icing and it should be fine.
CMS had an excellent day. I was 8th man on the team, 6th CMS 40+, and 2nd 50+ CMS. Damn our team was deep today!
CMS results
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