Tuesday, February 19: Cash Road Loop – 10 miles – This run starts
out downhill but has a couple of tough climbs on the way back to the office,
specifically a nearly three mile climb up cash road back to the middle school.
Things started off pretty well, I was clipping along at a good pace, but then
once I hit the up hills things went south. I still managed a solid run, but my
legs were screaming at the end. I hit the weight room after to foam roll and
that seemed to help. I would have liked to have jumped in the ice bath but it
was getting late and I had to grab dinner on my way home so I passed.
Wednesday, February 20: Barbed Wire Road – 8 miles – This is a
similar run to the Cash Road loop but instead of running all the way out to
Winder Hwy I turn on JM Turk road and run past the Mulberry Creek rec center.
JM Turk runs into Cash Road and follows the same last three-plus miles as that
run. It meets up with Cash Rd about half way up the Elizabeth Road climb then
finishes with a long gradual uphill to the middle school then back down to the
office. I added a loop around the complex to make it a full 8.
Thursday, February 21: GEHC Trails – 8 miles – I had the day off
but my hamstring was really, really tight. I ended up just running an easy
eight on the trails behind my apartment. I ran up and around the GEHC then out
and back on the greenway. It was a little slow, mostly because of the slower
GEHC loop, but I wanted to take it easy with this tightness/pain. Stretched and
foam rolled once I got back to the house then spent the rest of the day playing
Halo. I also got a chance to talk to Josh, who was coming back from running in
-11 degree weather on top of a mountain…nice. I’m looking forward to getting a
chance to get up to VT and run in a couple week, not so much to the cold but
just for something different and to run with friends.
Friday, February 22: In Town – 5 miles – Substantial pain in my
hamstring today. I just ran five as a shakeout for tomorrow’s race and despite
not feeling great at the start I felt much better as I ran. My legs loosed up a
bit and I actually felt like I had some spring in my step after the first two
miles. I ran out to McEver road then back through Flowery Branch and back to the
office. I definitely think it’s time I get myself a new pair of shoes. I’m
thinking of trying out a pair of Saucony Guides. The added stability might help
me lock down this hamstring issue. Once I got back to the office, I hopped in
the cold tub for about 15 minutes to ice down my legs. It was a little brutal
because it was so miserable outside, but it was hugely helpful and I need to
start doing that more often.
Saturday, February 23: XTERRA Georgia Thrill in the Hills Half Marathon
– 13.1 miles – Two straight days of rain made this one a total mud fest. I got
a little bit of a late start and ended up only warming up for about 10 or 12
minutes but I jogged from my car to registration then warmed up then had to run
back out to the starting line once I realized it had been moved to a different part
of the park. All the running around helped me forget about some of the nerves
and served as extra warm up which was nice. Thankfully the rain stopped just before
the race. The temperature was around 45 so it helped that we weren’t going to
be cold and wet.
Prior to the race I saw David
Bell, who’s won this race three years in a row (spoiler alert he made it four).
I talked to him for a few minutes before the start and I planned on trying to
hang with him for as long as possible without running over my head. I beat him
at both the KP 5k and the Fall Fitness 5k, but those were 5ks. At the start I moved
towards the front to get a feel for who the other main contenders were going to
be. I noticed Matt Rivers taking the early lead and decided to settle in behind
him and Dave for the start.
Knowing I’m not in great
shape, I wanted to try and stay in contact but I didn’t want to get out too
fast. I had some issues in the 8 miler I ran a few weeks ago and I didn’t want
to blow up at the end of the race. I decided I’d rather run smart and finish in
second than blow up and end up jogging it in. Matt and Dave actually put a
decent gap on me pretty early, because of how torn up the early part of the
course was, due to the marathon starting before us. We hit a paved road for
about 600 meters and I used that to catch back up to them. I caught them on the
first short climb then took over the lead on the second. At this point I figured
if I took the lead into the woods I would be able to control the pace a little
bit. This worked for a minute, but I took a wide turn because of all the mud
and Dave cut inside and took the lead. He opened up a gap and I tried to settle
in behind him, but he was cruising. Once the trail leveled out I was able to
settle down and find a good rhythm. My hope was that I could keep my rhythm and
eventually pull him back. I did, but it was more because he took his foot off
the gas late in the race.
I felt like I was running
pretty well early on. I wasn’t over my head but I wasn’t taking it easy. I found
a pace that wasn’t exactly comfortable but it wasn’t too taxing either. I was
trying to stay between 6:15 and 6:30 per mile, which was doable on some miles,
but some sections of the course made it tough because of how slick it was. I
also tried to use the marathoners as a target to go get.
Overall this race unfolded almost
exactly the same way as last year’s. I settled into second but was unable to
maintain contact with Dave, but after three miles I’d opened a good size gap on
Matt Rivers (who dropped out at some point, but I didn’t know that until the
race ended. Hopefully he’s alright as I didn’t see him after). I was running in
no man’s land but passing marathoners pretty often. I made it through miles 5,
6, and 7 still running smooth, considering that’s the section of the course
with the most twists and turns. Tim actually took one of the tougher climbs out
of the race, so after we passed the dam we went directly onto the inner lake
trail instead of up the pipeline trail.
This gave me a shot of
adrenaline because this is where I wanted to open it up and try to get back to
racing, unfortunately, my legs would not have it. My legs were dead at eight
miles, uh oh. It was incredibility frustrating because I was in a great place
mentally. Without that first pipeline climb I felt like I could made a big gain
on Dave along the lake and then on the downhill mile we had coming up. My legs just
didn’t want to cooperate. After surviving the pipe line climb, I tried to rally
on the downhill mile that runs back down to the lake, but again no dice. My
legs felt like they were full of cement. Once I got to 10 it was just about
survival, which is exactly what happened last year. That’s what happens when
you are not prepared, training wise, to race 13 miles. I suffered through the
final 5k and then ran all the way to the line for second place.
I crossed the line in 1:26:30,
I was hoping for 1:24ish but the combination of the mud and the fact that I went
into the hurt locker (which fittingly was on TV later in the day) big time made
1:26 fine. It was much slower than last year, but the course was such a mess
time really got thrown out the window. Maybe if I hadn’t gotten sick I would have
been able to put together some better training, but I’m happy with the finish.
It was easier to swallow second when I spent most of the race there than it
would have been to lose contact when my legs gave out eight or nine miles in. Now
it’s time to figure out this hamstring situation, get healthy, get ready for
Dirty Spokes and hopefully have some fun on the roads.
Race Results:
|
Male Open Winners
|
||||||||
|
Place
|
Name
|
City
|
Bib No
|
Age
|
Overall
|
Chip Time
|
Gun Time
|
Pace
|
|
1
|
David Bell
|
Decatur GA
|
24
|
30
|
1
|
1:24:46.8
|
1:24:46.8
|
6:28/M
|
|
2
|
Matt Haley
|
Buford MA
|
176
|
29
|
2
|
1:26:30.2
|
1:26:30.2
|
6:36/M
|
|
3
|
Bradley Thomas
|
Watkinsville GA
|
483
|
23
|
3
|
1:33:30.9
|
1:33:30.9
|
7:08/M
|
After the race I cooled down then
hung out around the awards ceremony for a bit. The take home was pretty solid,
power bars, power bar gels and a pair of Tifosi sunglasses. I also took over
the lead in the XTERRA Georgia Trail series. After the awards, I tried to clean
off all of the mud that I was caked in then headed home for a nice hot shower.
I also watched Travis Pastrana finish 10th at Daytona.
Sunday, February 24: Mall Roads Loop – 5 miles – I considered taking
the day off, but I decided to get out and get something in. My legs were tired,
not too tight or anything just fatigued. I think I’m going to take it easy this
week, maybe get a couple mountain bike rides in if the weather holds out.
Weekly Totals: 62 miles on seven runs – This was a pretty solid
week. The race went okay, not great, not terrible. If it wasn’t for a series
and it wasn’t something I’d already paid for an planned for, I probably wouldn’t
have run it due to the pre-race pain I was dealing with. I am going to keep an
eye my hamstring, foam roll, stretch and get in the ice bath. I’m hoping for a
laid back but solid week, then I am heading home for a week, which will
probably be a little bit lower mileage wise due to the weather and other
activities we have planned.
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