Got a nice nap, then spent the rest of the afternoon painting my living room.
This morning I ran the Maze 10km version. There's also a 30km version, but since I'm still fighting "tired legs syndrome" and my race is 4 weeks away, there was no point in digging my gravesite this morning.
The race was pretty fun. It rained over night, so there were 6 water crossings, and some mud puddles to bring a smile to my face.
Race strategy: Not to go all out at any time, instead just start out at a decent pace, then once warmed up, pick up the pace to a comfortable steady state (no, not 6:10 pace) trail run pace. Easy enough.
The start was funny... I tried to count out how many people took off like it was a 1 mile all out, and think i count about 26 people infront of me. Including one dude in a burgundy colored shirt that literally SPRINTED by me and 10 other people to get a better positions before we headed into the single track trails. I would pass Mr. Burgundy well before my watch hit 10 minutes, and he looked like he was about to faint! Hysterical! Within 2 miles, people had definitely backed off of that crazy silly pace, and i was steadily passing people left and right. Some people literally looked like they were dying out there, just 2 miles in. Rookies.
I settled in to my decided upon pace, and just held that till the finish. I continued to pass people here and there, through about 19 minutes, then past one last guy who hung on within about 10 yards of me till about minute 40. I asked him at minute 30 if he was just going to wait there and then pounce on me once we got closer, but he said he was just trying to hang on. And I came to the conclusion pretty quickly that he was not lying, since he had no bigger race in the future he was training towards, and he didn't like to talk at the pace we were going. Dammit, I could really have used some conversation to have the next 10-15 minutes go by. Oh well, what are you gonna do? Spoiler: I would never pass, or even see a single soul infront of me (to try and catch) after passing this guy.
There are never mile markers on a trail race so it's hard to tell where you are, but I guesstimated and told the leach that we were in for another 15-18 minutes, meaning I'd probably run between a 45 and a 48 today. (After I told him i knew the course, I realized I made a stupid mistake. Why tell your opponent valuable information? I should've said:"Oh i have no clue where we are")
I decided that once minute 40 hit my watch, on any next little descent I'd really accelerate down it, then pick up the pace to lose the ankle biter.... And I did just that. It didn't take much to get rid of him, and I think my tiny pace increase and the fact that the course is EXTREMELY zigzaggy he lost contact and fell off pace. The rest is pretty unventful. I kept at it till the finish, and crossed the mat with my watch saying 46minutes 58 seconds.
They eventually posted the results print out, and I found out that I finished 7th overall. This means I passed 19 runners or so. First place ran 40 minutes, he had a 3 minute lead on 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and then there was 3 minutes between me and 6th place. (I beat that one guy behind me by about 24 seconds.)
Stats:
- Time 46:58
- 7:41/min pace
- 7th Overall
- 6th Male under 40
I'm happy with my 7th overall, but it's not like I'm pulling out the champagne for a top 10 finish. Lets not forget that pretty much everyone ran 30km version, so it was a watered down field. However, it is what it is, and I'll take it. TOP 10! WOOHOO!!!
Bring out the Cheetos!!!... and the paint brush... time to finish the paint project.
No comments:
Post a Comment