Now…Race Day… (continued on next blog post or is it previous?)
If you want to hear all about the pre-race, please
check out the other blog post on Green Lakes but if you want to hear
about the race itself….read on.
So I get up at 4:15 on Saturday to get my act in
gear. With Green Lakes starting at 6, I wanted to arrive around 5 –
5:15. Factor in a 20 minute drive and time along with the wonderful
morning wake-up, 4:15 seemed like the right time. It
was also in this morning period that I decided to go with the Women’s
Medium Reebok top. In order to feel comfortable, I wore it on my way to
the race too, under other clothes of course. One benefit with a loop
course, I could always switch it out to the Nike
or even the black singlet (which I so wanted to avoid). Another
decision, I made was that on my way to the car, I was not going to check
out. I wanted to keep open the option of coming back to the hotel for
some rest if I finish early enough since check-out
was noon. 6am starts are wonderful things in that regard.
Around 4:40, I was in the car and on my way to
Green Lakes. As I got closer to the site, a line of cars began to form
all going to the same spot. It was clear we were the racers. Once I
parked, I hauled all my gear to the start/aid/finish
area. Check in was easy and drop bags had spots along the wall. I found
a great spot right where I would make a turn to head back out on the
course. With my spot picked, I set up everything I might need out in an
easy to find fashion. Quick in – quick out
is how I like to be. My Nathan Quickshot Plus was ready to go filled with my Gatorade/Pedialyte/Water Mix as were my other two Nathan Handhelds. Also, I had a large bottle of my pre-mix solution out to
fill-up if I did not want to switch handhelds. It was about this time, I put on my ultra-trusted speed shoes: La
Sportiva’s Vertical-K. While I had time, I mulled about and did the necessary bathroom trips to clean my systems out for less worry.
Yet, I found something to worry about. Mere minutes
before the start, I forgot my sunglasses were in my car! Easy to forget
with the sun now just coming up around 5:55. I darted over to the car
and got them with a few ticks to spare. I
stashed them in the Quickshot Plus where my
drop bag was. With the temps being so cool and the loops being 7.77
miles, I felt I did not need the fluid on the first lap. The gels pinned
to my shorts would suffice.
Now it was go time…..
As
we were given the 'GO' command, I started out rather casually. Mainly,
doing this helps get a sense of the field without overexerting myself.
My plan going into the race was for hitting the Ultrasignup prediction
time of 3:43. I knew that required me running a tad over 55 minutes per
lap. However, I was not wearing a GPS watch so I had no idea of what my
speed would be. However, I could do lap splits on my watch to give me a
comparison lap to lap. After around 3/4 mile, I started to distance
myself from the rest of the field with just a subtle settling into the
race. Helping definitely was the cool weather. The course starts off
with running along size a pair of lakes before we go into the woods to
start some climbing. Once we leave the woods we run a long inclined
grassy straight that leads into the 'Serengeti'. The 'Serengeti' was the
portion of the course open completely to the sun. Think of it as
rolling meadows. Going in this was the part I was not looking forward to
figuring if I am going to get hot, it would be here. In fact, this is
the reason why I went out the night before to get something to wear
other than my black singlet. Upon the first pass through this section,
there was a good fog lying just over the meadow. I was very happy to see
this. The moisture in the air would help me be cool.
In
a few spots, I saw deer on the path. In one spot, I saw a buck. One of
the most beautifully tranquil sights. Around 26 minutes in, I pass
through the 'Mid-way' aid starting that is around 4 miles into the lap.
(Give or take, of course.) After about another mile, the course dips
back into the woods and takes a nice downhill turn. I opened it up in
this section. Not in a stupid way to empty the tank too soon. Once, the
course finished the woods, it was back along the lake (but on the other
side) towards the start/finish.
As
I finished my 1st lap, I was at slightly over 50 minutes. Wow. Still
feel good. As I ran through the aid section, I quickly grabbed my
Quickshot Plus and sunglasses with hardly a stop. Lap two was much of
the same except I was out front without any idea of where anybody was.
About the end of the first lake on the loop, I saw other runners coming
at me finishing their first loop. (This is one of the two small sections
where there is two way traffic.) On this lap, my biggest notable was
nearly blowing by a sharp right turn. I caught myself just in time. This
was a turn about half way through the first woods section. Thankfully,
this was the only problem on the loop. On the second pass through the
'Serengeti', the fog was clearing some but it was still cool. At a few
dips in the meadow rolls, I would drop below the fog line. VERY COOL!!!!
My slip through 'Midway" on this lap was 28 minutes. Ok...not too bad
as I was feeling good and understood I would slow some. In the end, my
lap split was around 51:30. Still motoring. (I also began to pass
people.)
Lap
three was a repeat of the second loop with more passing of people than
the last. The highlight was a woman shouting in joy about getting
lapped. My split here only a few seconds slower than lap two. After
doing some math in my head I could run 57 minutes to be under 3:30.
Crushing. As I past through the aid station on my last trip, I dumped
two cups of water on my head as the sun was coming out and said see them
in less than an hour. It was a mid-race goal adjustment. At no point
did I know where second was. All I figured was I had a good lead. Turns
out it was around 6 minutes.
Similar
to my last lap at Sulphur Springs, I slowed. Unlike there, it was not
as bad. I felt a little gassed in the meadows but still worked the
wooded downhill section. On the final lake stretch, I felt warm. Not
quite overheated but ready to get the race over with. I knew at each
point if I was hitting a split that would get me to 3:30 and I was still
doing that!
With
my final right turn to the last 'straight-away', I could see the clock
and pushed. Final lap split was a shade over 55 minutes. Time: 3:28:27.
Tim Hardy, the RD, came up to congratulate me and inform me I had set a
new course record. For some reason during the race I thought it was
3:10. Not sure why but I did. So it was a nice bonus to break the CR by 5
minutes and win by 9 over Jason Mintz.
Having
a four hour drive home, I limited my lingering at the race. I stayed
around 45 minutes after talking with a few people. Also, it was at this
point that I decided I would not make it back to Hotel Skyler. Just felt
I would rather use the time to get on the road. So what did I do? I
called up and checked out by phone! Can't say I ever did that before.
Luckily, I could do that as I had taken everything with me when I left
earlier in the morning. On the drive home, I stopped at the usual
Cortland, NY Arby's for a giant Jamocha shake. I mean I deserved it.
Thankfully, the drive home was good as I could remain on cruise control
the majority of the time. And yes, I was driving in my slippers. All
about comfort. Following, one more pit stop for gas and drinks in the
Poconos, I made it home not long after 2pm. That left me with a lot of
my Saturday. Win!
(Since this race, I've been back on the roads but will be hitting another ultra soon!)
No comments:
Post a Comment