Sunday, 5/15/2016 to Tuesday, 5/17/2016: Rest days.
Sunday and Monday were definitely rest days after the Mind the Ducks debacle. Perhaps debacle is too strong a word but I do believe that MTD was not my best effort or race. Yes, I did get to 26.2 miles ... but I walked 11 of them and then bailed with 6 hours to go because I was cold. I didn't have the physical and mental toughness to survive a 12 hour endurance run.
Tuesday was just the usual "don't run the day before a race" rest day ... nothing unusual.
Wednesday, 5/18/2016: 2 runs of 1.7 and Dirt Cheap #2 of 5.29 miles, 60F, 42% RH, 6 mph NE wind, sunny.
I packed all my usual run gear (shorts, socks, calf sleeves, short sleeve tech, long sleeve tech along with a hat, light gloves and water just in case) in the Equinox before I left for work so I could go straight to Black Creek Park for my first Dirt Cheap of 2016. I didn't make the first one because I was sick. I got out to the race venue around 5:30 PM in plenty of time for the 6:30 PM start.
I just wore shorts, calf sleeves and a short sleeve tech. It was warm enough ... finally. I met up with Andy Ciaio who told me of his 7:20 pace effect at Sunday's Lilac 10K when it was 40F. He said that he did 7:00 for the first 3 miles downhill and downwind and then 7:40 pace coming back uphill and into a 20 mph wind with light snow in the air. It definitely sounds chilly and even colder that MTD!
I got out for a nice and easy trail run of 1.7 miles at 10:10 pace, link here. I assessed the trail conditions. It looked like there would be mud. I hadn't had fresh mud on my Saloman Speedcross 3 trail shoes since Mess the Dress ... nice!
I had not run this course back in 2015 either so it would be a new experience that I looked forward to ... but also with a bit of apprehension as what tricks Boots would throw in. I ambled toward the start ... along with a few hundred runners. I laughed when Ellen said her usual "Follow the pink flags ... Don't follow the runner in front of you ... If you get lost, it's your own fault!". Yellow Jacket Racing is a class act ... respect. And ... we were off.
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| The start ... photo courtesy of Barb Boutillier |
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| The start ... photo courtesy of Jeff Scheuch |
The race started right up the sledding hill. I took it at my own pace and let runners pass me. I settled into a nice but fast trail pace. A lady lost her shoe within the first 1/2 mile. I laughed when she passed me in a bit with both of her shoes off but then she stopped later and put them both back on.
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| Somewhere ... photo courtesy of Barb Bourtillier |
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| Running on the boardwalk ... photo courtesy of Jeff Scheuch |
The first half of the course with wide open double track. I settled into the passing lane and started to pass runner after runner. I felt good. I splashed right through any mud that I encountered ... it was fun! There was about a mile of single track where no one could pass which kind of sucked when I got stuck behind a slightly slower runner. I managed to get by and kicked it up a notch. I was thirsty but running as fast as I could. The hills were just gentle rollers with not too many roots. Boots had the course take a second trip up the sledding hill before we made it toward the finish. I was definitely slower on the second trip than the first trip. I tried to pass the guy in front of me ... but he held me off. And ... done in 44:03 officially and also by my Garmin.
I was parched and a bit drenched with sweat. I swallowed 2 hot dogs and a banana before I ambled out to the Equinox for some water. The Dirt Cheaps are a no cup race to cut down on waste so no water cups ... which can be a drag if you don't carry water like I do.
I did pretty well. I was 87th out of 438 overall, link here; 69th out of 339 in the series, link here; and 4th out of 17 in my M55-59 age group, link here. My splits were: 8:33, 7:56, 8:16, 8:42, 8;29 and 7:21 over the last 0.29 mile. Pretty fast for a trail race!
Thursday, 5/19/2016 and Friday, 5/20/2016: Rest days
The usual rest days but during this period of rest I have the idea of revisiting North Ponds Park to try a bit of Mind the Ducks again with the same pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS15 running shoes (black/yellow) to see if I fared any better. I think my darling wife, Christine, thought I was crazy.
Saturday, 5/21/2016: 13.15 miles, 2:04:48, 9:29 pace, 54F, 67% RH, calm, handset.
I set my alarm for the ungodly time of 4:40 AM. I was determined and I had thoughts of running a full in 4 hours or running for 6 hours. I packed some food (apples, bananas, HammerGels, a sandwich) and water. It was a bit cool so I wore long running pants over my Brooks shorts and wore a long sleeve tech on top. I got out to North Ponds Park around 6 AM. There was strangely not too much traffic on the way there and only 2 cars were in the parking lot when I pulled in.
So ... I started out at 6:07 AM. I set up a nice and easy pace at about 9:00 pace. I had listened to Frank Sinatra singing "I Did It My Way" on the way out so I sang that to myself as I looped around and around. I say "Hi" to all the walkers as I passed the first time and then nodded the rest of the times. I stopped for 2 minutes to removed my running pants and to change into my short sleeve tech at mile 7. I passed mile 10 and then thought ... "I don't need to beat myself up about Mind the Ducks" and made up my mind to stop at 13.1 miles. I only ran this 13.1 miles 4 minutes faster than I did the previous week.
My Mind the Ducks "failure" was due to lack of training, and a bad day. I am also pretty convinced that my newish Brooks Adrenaline GTS15 running shoes (black/yellow) DO NOT have much cushion in them despite having only 120 miles on them. What I learned: I should have treated Mind the Ducks like an actual ultra marathon that you do need to TRAIN FOR ... not half ass it by continuing to run half marathons and then stop. I needed to have had three or four 20 mile runs under my belt and I didn't. Plus I needed to have had my mind set on being there 12 hours under any weather conditions ... I was unprepared for the weather. Oh well ... you live and you learn. So ... I got to 13.1 miles, I stopped and I went home with a pit stop at the nearby Wegmans to get a couple of donuts.
Soon I was reclining with the usual mug of coffee. I spent the afternoon trying to follow some complicated instructions on how to slipstream the new Windows 7 Convenience Rollup into the Windows 7 SP1 ISO on on one of my many USB drives, link here. The one thing that sucks about loading Windows 7 SP1 onto a laptop is downloading and installing the 200+ updates since SP1 came out.
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