One trail run, two states...

Yesterday, I trekked over to Kennett Square, PA (apparently mushrooms are big here) to the The Land Conservancy of Southern Chester County's Stateline Woods 9K. This race is number two in the Trail Creek Outfitters series, which meant if I wanted to be in it, I had run it.

Thankfully, unlike the last trail race, this was on a Saturday so I didn't have the 'mileage dilemma'.

Both the weather and course, we much different that Sunday's Iron Hill Challenge race. It was a lot sunnier and warmer. And the course, longer with more hills and open field running. That last part is what I did not like as the field running exposed us to sun in warmth and removed a lot of technical running. Plus, the surface was mowed grass that was more like straw. In other words, slow surface.

This race brought out a lot more people than last week. (It also had a 5K yesterday.) Within that additional numbers, there were a couple of people at the start line that really looked like they were ready to give me a go. And that was really true. Once the race started, I had someone right on my heels. I wasn't burning it up too much considering I knew there was a number of rolling hills but also needing to see who was going to be in it. I was running at a good clip when at the 2nd creek crossing, one of the race organizers was on a bike that got in my way. This hurt mentally as I was off my rhythm but I maintained the lead through the bit of technical. However, once we got out of this small wooded patch, we hit a paved section going up that saw me passed by two people. For a moment, I let the creek incident get to me saying, well this is it, I lost because of that. That lasted for a second as I just kept running and picked off the guy in second. And I slowly kept closing the gap on the leader. It wasn't until we crossed into Delaware that I managed to catch him. I passed him just in time to head up the largest hill on the course with a 15% grade (if not more). Unlucky for me, I had company. I got passed going up the hill and nearly cracked again but I was not going to kill myself on the hill if it was going to cost me the race. Instead, it cost me a $50 gift card placed at the top. But at the crest, I took back the lead and put in some distance. I spent a share on the hill but not as much as the person who grabbed the gift card. My thoughts turned to, "I have to keep this going. I need to recovery faster than him while putting in this distance" as I passed the 3 mile mark. From that point on, it was attrition to hold my lead.

Crossing back into PA, I was holding maybe a 10-15 second lead. Or that is what it seemed to be. But I had another misstep. In making a turn, I lost some footing. I recovered as fast as I could and proceeded to run up the next to last hill on the course. Making it up this meant, making it back into the woods for more technical section. I knew that is where I could help myself the most. But it also meant, running into people still doing the 5K. Passing people on technical single-track stinks. Yet, it had to be done. Despite me calling out which side I was passing on, it was tough but doing enough to help me fire through the last 3/4 mile of the course and open up more of a lead as the times I glanced back I saw increased distance. This was great! Especially considering, the file 1/3 mile is an uphill climb on the nasty slow grass. But I kept chugging. When I hit the final straight into the finish, I was so happy as this was one of the hardest races I have run and won. There was competition on my heels throughout and the course did not play into having a sound rhythm.

Really happy with my effort yesterday. For my next act, I will hit the roads and hope to do well. Between now and then, I plan on getting one or two track sessions in for some speedwork. But for today, it was all about mileage. A tad over 20 miles this morning is fantastic. In a couple of weeks, I have to push the long run to 3 hours. It is funny to think, a run of that length will be the longest time I have run since my 2005 NJ Marathon (my only time over 3:00...never run one with a sinus infection. Just don't do it.). Accomplishing that will be tremendous for my ultra in a couple of months. Because once, I hit that run....I can reduce some mileage on in.

Back on the trails...Mileage Dilemma's

After some time in my racing schedule for the roads, I got the pleasure to hit the trails for a 5k this morning. However, getting there almost didn't happen....

With my increasing mileage for my ultra debut this summer, Sundays have been my bread and butter for my long runs. And considering I am two months out, I don't want to lose those precious days. Which leads me to the mileage dilemma and how it played into the race. It's pretty simple, the race was on a Sunday. Now before you say, I could always do the long run after...ask yourself if you think a race effort followed by an 18 miler is wise? To me that is not wise. Doable but foolish. So that lead me to consider some other possibilities several which included skipping this particular 5k trail race.

They included:

Option 1: Run my long run on Saturday and race Sunday.
Option 2: Change the race to a Half Marathon trail on Sunday 3 hours away.
Option 3: Run a trail marathon 2 1/2 hours away on Saturday and whatever Sunday is, it is.
Option 4: Just skip racing and do the long run on Sunday.

In the end the leaders were 1 & 3. 3 nearly won out but I woke up in the night 1/2 after I would have needed to. This happened because I let sleep aid in my decision which is always wise to consider. Since I was up, I decided to go out for my long run and use the time wisely. After all the sun had yet to come up. This helped because in the end, my long run was done 24 hours before the race giving me a full day to recover. Marvelous.

Of course that meant, I still had to run the race. My goal going in was to put in a solid effort but not risk hurting myself due to the previous day's mileage. I felt I achieved that.

The race itself was called the Iron Hill Challenge and was the 1st race in the Trail Creek Outfitters series. Because of wanting to compete in the series, this is why the race created such an issue. If it was not a race that I kind of had to be in for the overall series, I probably would have scrapped it. Thankfully, things worked out and I didn't. Why? Because I got to run some great trails in a new place, Iron Hill Park in Newark, DE. Let me tell you, Delaware has some great trails. Every time I get a chance to experience their parks, I find them terrific. Once the race was done, I switched out of my Inov-8 Talon 190's and did 6 more miles loving each bit of it.

And because I felt so good this afternoon, I did another 5 more miles near my house on trails.

Overall very happy to be back on the trails and I feel my technical ability is getting better as it was put to the test on today's course. Now to see what my next trail race offers up. Just hope, it works out as well as today.

Mounts....

After a couple of weeks on the roads, I'm hungry for some trails. Following one of my races last weekend, I went for a wonderful cooldown on some trails in a light mist. Beautiful. Chances are likely I will do a trail run soon but the more important thing is building my long runs for my scheduled ultra in July.

At least I have the hankering.

In other news, I'm thinking of doing some direct mounting on my Northern Lites Snowshoes. I do think come racing season next year, I will benefit. Especially if my goal is to make Nationals. For those interested, here is a link to a video discussing direct mounts: Snow Shoe Direct Mount

And how to do them yourself: Mounting Instructions

Race Pet Peeve and Training Thoughts

Before I touch on my training in this post, allow me to mention a race pet peeve. The people at the start of the race who just all out sprint and just kind of stop. It is disrespectful. I understand it is all in good fun in the spirit of the event. However, for the people who are serious and racing, they create a potential for a collision or allow a runner to get out of their mental focus on their goal. Just my brief thought on the subject.

Training itself in regards to mileage has been fairly consistent this month. Averaging about 55 miles a week. Now that is not normally a large number of miles but considering the issues this year, I like I am experiencing the consistency. And with having done some racing now, I like the hold up. For the rest of this month, I do feel I will be a bit more cautious with the miles as I have to start focusing on ultra training. So I will add an off day or two in the next month. With the focus on the ultra in two months, hopefully, I can add more trail based mileage.


(Brief note: The blog interface has changed in making posts. Surprising to me. Chalk that up to me being new at this and having just found my rhythm.)

Good luck and be careful!!!

Good luck to everyone running the Boston Marathon tomorrow morning. Remember to run smart considering the conditions are not going to be the most ideal.

Oh great, he is going to talk about the roads some...

Yes, today's entry is going to focus on some road running. Specifically a road race. Oddly enough this morning was my first race on the roads since the start of the year. Considering it is mid-April and I ran 42 races last year, talk about a drop. (Even more so when you figure it is only my 4th) However, I did come into the year with a goal of racing less.

Locally, there were a lot of options this weekend. Today alone had something like a dozen races I could have picked from all within 25 miles. My choice....Run for Justice in Camden. Mainly, I selected this race to get a true gauge of where my performance level is at on a familiar course. The course was key because I have been struggling with a nagging groin all calendar year. So if I was going to get an honest evaluation of my ability, it had to be somewhere that I could compare something to. Since I had done the Turkey Trot there a few times, I knew what the course was going to be.

Amazingly, I had a sound sleep and didn't feel worried about my body holding up until I started my warm-up. I felt a bit stiff in the...you guessed it...groin. But that is why we warm up....by race time...I was feeling loose. Whew. Once the race started, I ran the race I hoped for. Focused and fast. Except in maybe the last 1/3 of the last mile. My energy reserves started to go there. But I crossed the finish in an amazingly shocking time....15:53. That is only 5 seconds slower than my time in the Turkey Trot.

Mentally, this is a huge boost as a result of the groin issues is a wavering confidence in what I can do in a race. Now I know and it is good. Just have to see how things go tomorrow since I will have a clear sense of my bodies ability to recover. If that goes well....game on.

But for now, I know I made a great decision regarding today's 5K choice.

DC & The Hills Are Alive

Yesterday, I closed out my racing for March down in Washington DC for DC RUNNING CLUB's Inaugural The Hills are Alive 5K & 10K. This race ended up on my schedule as a result of three factors.

1 - Looking for a 10K on this particular weekend
2 - I was not going to be able to drive to a race on this particular weekend
3 - Schwaggle discount.

Since DC is not far away, in checking transit costs along with race fee, it was going to be the same amount as if I ran local. So I signed up at the end of FEB as it gave me a reason to race somewhere new. For this reason I was excited. Plus, it was a Saturday, meaning I could race and come home to have Sunday to relax.

As part of the trip, I decided to stay over Friday night at The Liaison hotel. This was highly convenient because around the corner was a Capital BikeShare station that I could get a bike at to ride to the race location at Fort Dupont Park since there was a station there to dock.

But enough of the logistics, the reason I am talking about this race on here is because it was a multi-terrian race. It was a mix of trail and road. And the trail portions were made up of some gravel, some dirt and some grass. Oh and the hills. 325 ft of elevation gain per 5k loop. And for the 10K, which was 2X the 5K loop, 650 ft. Since I traveled such a far distance, I was on for the 10K.

I arrived at the start at 7am to get my race packet. I did a short warm up to get a sense about a portion of the course I had questions about. And I was ready for the 8am start. At the start, it did not look like a lot of competition which disappointed me. I knew the 10 Miler was the next day but I did expect someone to make the race interesting. Once the race started, I was off. By the 1.5 mile mark I was up by nearly 400 meters. And the person behind me was doing the 5k! My first loop, I felt good with but knew the second was going to be tough. My in-race analysis of the course was it was difficult to get a solid pace as the terrain changed so often be it having a hill show up or changing from road to grass. And the second lap did not help. I tried to keep the engine going. For the most part I did and ended up with a good time for the torture of the course as it was definitely slow.

In the end 35:19 for a clear 1st. Yes, two minutes slower than my normal 10K. However, it was a nice challenge and a good transition to the roads this month. If anything I challenged my fitness. I'll blog about the 1st road race but after that, I will not talk so much about my races that don't fit into the goal of this blog to focus on more unusual races.

But before I end this post, I do want to discuss the race logistics. Overall, I found it lacking in the amenities one expects. At the race day pick-up. Numbers were not already assigned. The numbers were written next to the name on the list. Also, shirts were given after the races not before. Despite having a set number of sizes and number from registration rolls, the organizers ran out of shirts. Completely uncalled for. Finish line set-up lacked organization as there was no finishing shute. Finishing times were called out and written down as there was not proper timing equipment for the 200 participants. This created an amount of chaos. Thankfully the race numbers were color coded to the distance. So the organizers got that aspect right on the money.

That is not all. No awards. None. (I was told the planned donation for the award did not come through.) I find this sad because the organization has put on solid races with all of things they lacked here.

Yes, I am criticizing a race for not delivering what I expect. Had I paid the full fee of 40, I would be livid. Luckily I did not.

And it pains me because all the organizers were really nice people. The energy of the volunteers was very supportive.

Ironically, the 5K winner was also from Philly and we had seen each other around.