Thursday, July 10, 2014

Oh, to be young again

Last Friday was the 4th of July.  Since I have lived in Steilacoom, I have tried to run in the "4 on the 4th" whenever I can. It is hard to NOT run this race, because I can almost roll down the hill from my house to get to the start.  It is a little race with a very honest (read: somewhat hilly) course.  There are  only two hills, and the 1st uphill is small, so of little consequence.  The second hill, though, gets your attention.  The course is an out-and-back, so you start off flying down the hill for the first 1/2 mile.  Of course, what goes down must come back up in an out-and-back, so the last 1/2 mile of the race is a good attention-getter.  I first ran this race back in, I think, around 2000 or 2001 (when I was much younger, fitter and faster).  My time was somewhere in the 22 minute range and I was in the top 10.  And every time I have run this race, I have gotten slower (and, naturally, older).

This year, I was not expecting to run very fast.  I'm not very fit and I have not done any speedwork.  So, I was wearing a T-shirt rather than a singlet and not my lightest flats.  As I jogged down to the start, I thought, "Well, at least my legs weren't feeling dead."  I paid my entry fee and waited for the start.  In keeping with the feeling that I wasn't going to be running very fast, I only did a single stride-out (and even that wasn't very fast).  We lined up and I made sure not to be up front.  The starter (I think it was Pat Kenworthy) yelled, "Go!" and off we went.  I held back going down the hill and cruised through the first mile in 6:23.  The first mile marker was pretty accurate to my GPS.  As we wended our way along Chambers Creek Road, and crossed the bridge, my GPS hit 2 miles.  We headed up the first hill and turned around, and I thought, "We're way over 2 miles.  How hard is it to get an accurate course on an out-and-back?"

I got chicked by Jenny Stevick shortly after the 3rd mile.  We ran together for a bit, and chatted about how the last hill was a pretty miserable hill.  And then she dropped me.  I gathered myself for the last hill and as I started ascending, my GPS hit 4 miles.  I thought about stopping for just an instant since it was 4 miles, but decided that I really should finish.  As I went by one of the last bushes, somebody came out of it and started running towards the finish just in front of me.  That seemed a bit strange to me, and as I passed him just before the finish, I wondered, "Would someone actually cheat in a little race like this?"  Seemed strange that he would pop out just before the finish: if he was in front of me, why was he running slower at the finish than I was?  Oh well, to each his own.

I finished in 27:19, which, according to my GPS was 6:33/mile, nearly 1 minute/mile slower than 2000.  Funny thing is that my overall place is the same as last year, but I actually podiumed for my age group.  The course was definitely longer than it has ever been, so my overall time looks worse than it should, but getting older clearly has its disadvantages.  I guess it's time to get serious, so that I can try to recover lost youth!

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Start of the season

A day (or 30) late but I raced last month at Moses Lake.  It was hot on the other side of the mountains, and, given that my fitness was not great, I didn't figure that I would be having a great race... and I was right.  It was a struggle for the entire day.  But we'll get to that.

David and I made the trip over to Moses Lake on Friday night for the 3rd time.  As opposed to last year, it was a very easy drive and we rolled into Moses Lake about 9:30 PM.  It was nice to get a lot of sleep, since we went to bed shortly after arriving, knowing that the race started at 10:00 AM. I love this race, because of the late start.  It gives me a chance to ease my way into racing season, since I can wake up without an alarm. 

After a leisurely breakfast staring out at the race site, David and I went back to the room to get ready.

 As we changed and loaded up our gear, David looked at me and asked, "Do you want to trade helmets for the race?"  You see, our new Hammer kit was all black for him and lime green for me.  And our race helmets are fluorescent yellow for him and black for me Rudy Project Wingspans.  I thought that it would be fun to swap and have matching kit from head to toe, so I said yes.

We headed to the race site and got our stuff out of the van.  Bryan Brosious rolled up to us and we chatted briefly, picking up where we left off last summer.  We had ample time to warm up, and as I took a long jog, I was already warm.  I figured it was going to be a hot run.  Finishing by the water's edge, I tested the water, and it seemed reasonably warm.  It was definitely not going to be the bone chilling swim of 2 years ago.

Too quickly, it was race time.  I did a short warm up (since I have not been swimming much, I figured that I needed to save up as much as I could).  I wished David and Bryan good luck and took my place near the dock near the front.  The gun went off and I got stuck behind a guy swimming Army style:  left-right-left-right.  I finally had enough of him and got around him, where I had open water for the entire race.  I exited the water somewhere around 10th place, feeling more tired than I've felt swimming in a long time (And why is it that there seem to be so many people in front and on top of me at the start of the swim, but, by the time we're done, they're nowhere to be seen?  I just have to learn to sprint).  I jumped on my bike and set off in pursuit.  Looking down, my heart race was at 156, where it stayed for the majority of the ride.  I felt out of breath, and didn't seem like I could catch my breath.  I could feel the headwind all the way out.  As I headed to the turnaround, I saw Bryan heading back in 1st.  I yelled some encouragement as he passed by; David followed Bryan soon afterward in 4th place.  I yelled some encouragement to him as well.  At the turnaround, I felt the tailwind, and sailed back, riding the wind.  It was windy enough that I was pushed around a little on my bike, feeling some sidewind gusts.

By the time I made it back to the transition area, I was in 6th place.  I saw David heading out of transition as I was entering.  He yelled, "I beat you!" I could tell that he was proud of his swim-bike split.  I later found out that he was 2nd out of the water, just trailing another 15 year old, as they traded off the lead.  I caught David about 1/2 mile into the run, and set my sights on the 4th place.  Unfortunately, he was pulling away from me.  And it was hot!  I was already suffering and my legs felt dead.  Close to the turnaround, the eventual race winner, Bryan Lindsay, came at me from the other direction.  He was flying!  I later found out that he was running at 5:25 pace.  Soon afterward came Bryan Brosious.  I yelled some encouragement and we exchanged high-fives.  Joshua Fitchett was next in 3rd and then Ethan Carlson was 4th.  And there was no way I was going to catch anybody on that day.  As I made the turnaround and headed for home, I saw David approaching and yelled some encouragement to him, also exchanging high-fives. 

I finished the race in 5th place, totally spent, and then jogged back to cheer David on.  That's what I love about sprint races:  you can go from total exhaustion to recovery in minutes.  David was desperately hanging on to 13th place, 2nd AG, and was less than 1/4 mile from the finish.  Unfortunately, his swim buddy, Matthew Creagan was moving faster than him, and passed him for second place.

Overall, we had a successful Team Hammer day:  Bryan was 2nd OA, 1st AG; David was 14th OA, 3rd AG; and I was 5th OA, 1st AG.  (Thanks to Ayla Wyman for the picture)
 
 
And now I have to try to get into shape!