Cabot Trail was amazing – for sure – and although it lifted my spirit light as a feather, it put lead in my legs. 4 days of hard living and some long downhill running left me in less than peak form for the second Timex race – the Enfield 5k.
I thought I’d be okay – race morning was beautiful – and the course is as close to flat as you’re gonna get on the Nova Scotia road racing scene. I figured, even with tired body and legs, I should be able to rip off a PB. So I was optimistic going to the line – I even lined up in the first row of runners. When the gun went, I tucked in behind my training partner N. I figured he would set a good pace over the first k, and I could follow him and see where my fitness was that morning. I got a little impatient, though, and about 300-400m in, I pulled in front to set the pace. We passed the first k slower than I would have liked – 3:26 (when I was looking for 3:20s) – so I surged a bit after looking at my watch. But I could feel that I was already running at capacity, and my body settled back into a 3:26/27 pace.
The two guys with me were content to let me lead for the second k (a 3:27), but after that, they pulled ahead. Their move was good for me, though – it meant I could tuck in and let them set the pace, and it meant that I wouldn’t feel obligated to lead during the second half of the out-and-back course, which was into the wind. All I had to do was hang on. At the 2.5k turn around, though, N put on a bit of a surge, and while the other guy matched it, I didn’t. Even so, I was able to catch them up after a couple hundred metres, but the effort left me without much extra left. By 3k, they were pulling away and I had to let them go and fight my own battle.
Despite struggling, I maintained my 3:27 pace for the 4th k, but the two guys in front were putting real estate between me and them – in fact, they were making time on the second-place guy. I was in fifth, but I couldn’t hear anyone creeping up behind me, so I focused on staying relaxed and keeping my turn over going as I climbed the hill in the last 500m of the race.
I was a little disappointed when I finally saw the clock on the home stretch – I knew I wasn’t going to be close to a sub-17. But I crossed in 17:13 – good enough for my second-fastest 5k. With tired legs, I couldn’t be too beat up about it – but I still want that sub-17. Unfortunately, my (potentially) last chance at it this season is this Sunday! I can’t imagine my legs are going to come back to me in just a week, but I can hope. I’m going to go into Lunenburg looking for that elusive sub-17.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
A Record Cabot Trail Relay
You know those lucky kids who win some contest or something and get to meet professional athletes – like baseball players or football players – and in the dressing room the athletes give the kids jerseys that are 12 sizes too big and then they bring the kids onto the field and let them throw a pitch or catch a touchdown pass? You’ve seen this on TSN or on the news – the kids wear these big proud grins the size of their whole head and everyone feels great for them because for a moment, they too are part of the team. Well, that’s exactly how I felt at the Cabot Trail Relay – except my singlet actually fit.
Somehow the universe conspired to give me a gift: I got to be a part of the team that not only won the Cabot Trail Relay but also destroyed the previous course record by 38 minutes. It was an absolutely amazing and inspiring experience. And I stayed up to watch and cheer every leg of the race except for the first – from 8:30am on Saturday until noon on Sunday. I watched 15 amazing performances and got to participate in one race myself. Sure, mine was the shortest leg and one of the easier ones (although that mile-long climb at the beginning was hell enough for me!), but I did my job – I ran a solid pace despite some painful ankle tendinitis and was 4.5 minutes faster than the guy who ran the leg for the team last year – that’s a decent contribution to the goal of beating the team’s previous result. I didn’t win my leg – in fact, I gave up two minutes to a dude from the Maine-iacs (our closest rivals), but I was 5 minutes ahead of the third-place guy. I did fine. And I get to keep my jersey!
There are too many stories to tell – and not all of them are appropriate to tell, at least the ones involving nudity and the police – but I can say that it was without doubt the best running experience I’ve ever had. And I got to run at sunset and enjoy the fading light streaming over the highland hills. And I got to witness gutsy performances up and down mountains and share in the excitement of watching the team pull away from all competitors and following the numbers as we pulled further and further ahead of the record. And the thing about the record is that it was set by a team that had corporate sponsorship: they had a Winnebago, they had a massage therapist, they had 4 former Olympians for pete’s sake! And we were just a bunch of guys with a couple of beer-filled vans and the crazy idea of being the fastest team yet. Okay, I’m over-dramatizing here because we had a bunch of studs – former CIS champions, etc. – and the team that set the record was a bit older than us – but it was all very magical anyway!
I’m grateful for the experience – and the best part was meeting so many great guys – solid individuals, for sure – and sharing in a kind of close team camaraderie that is so rare in running. We laughed and we drank and we ran hard and had a hell of a man-cation! In the future, I might tell a few specific stories from the weekend, but for now these general impressions will have to serve. So much happened that it will take awhile for me to process it all and gain a kind of narrative perspective.
Until then, I work on overcoming my tendinitis and take another shot this weekend at a sub-17 5k. My chances are slim after all that sleep deprivation and boozing – and all the missed training runs – but I’m going to go gut it out on Saturday anyway – what the hell. After all, the whole point of putting those huge jerseys on kids is to inspire them to do their best, even if they’ll never be pros. But for a weekend, I got to be a pro!
Somehow the universe conspired to give me a gift: I got to be a part of the team that not only won the Cabot Trail Relay but also destroyed the previous course record by 38 minutes. It was an absolutely amazing and inspiring experience. And I stayed up to watch and cheer every leg of the race except for the first – from 8:30am on Saturday until noon on Sunday. I watched 15 amazing performances and got to participate in one race myself. Sure, mine was the shortest leg and one of the easier ones (although that mile-long climb at the beginning was hell enough for me!), but I did my job – I ran a solid pace despite some painful ankle tendinitis and was 4.5 minutes faster than the guy who ran the leg for the team last year – that’s a decent contribution to the goal of beating the team’s previous result. I didn’t win my leg – in fact, I gave up two minutes to a dude from the Maine-iacs (our closest rivals), but I was 5 minutes ahead of the third-place guy. I did fine. And I get to keep my jersey!
There are too many stories to tell – and not all of them are appropriate to tell, at least the ones involving nudity and the police – but I can say that it was without doubt the best running experience I’ve ever had. And I got to run at sunset and enjoy the fading light streaming over the highland hills. And I got to witness gutsy performances up and down mountains and share in the excitement of watching the team pull away from all competitors and following the numbers as we pulled further and further ahead of the record. And the thing about the record is that it was set by a team that had corporate sponsorship: they had a Winnebago, they had a massage therapist, they had 4 former Olympians for pete’s sake! And we were just a bunch of guys with a couple of beer-filled vans and the crazy idea of being the fastest team yet. Okay, I’m over-dramatizing here because we had a bunch of studs – former CIS champions, etc. – and the team that set the record was a bit older than us – but it was all very magical anyway!
I’m grateful for the experience – and the best part was meeting so many great guys – solid individuals, for sure – and sharing in a kind of close team camaraderie that is so rare in running. We laughed and we drank and we ran hard and had a hell of a man-cation! In the future, I might tell a few specific stories from the weekend, but for now these general impressions will have to serve. So much happened that it will take awhile for me to process it all and gain a kind of narrative perspective.
Until then, I work on overcoming my tendinitis and take another shot this weekend at a sub-17 5k. My chances are slim after all that sleep deprivation and boozing – and all the missed training runs – but I’m going to go gut it out on Saturday anyway – what the hell. After all, the whole point of putting those huge jerseys on kids is to inspire them to do their best, even if they’ll never be pros. But for a weekend, I got to be a pro!
Friday, May 28, 2010
Coyotes
Here's a news story to check out:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2010/05/27/ns-coyote-fears-cabot-race.html
Nothing like a little danger to get runners moving!
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2010/05/27/ns-coyote-fears-cabot-race.html
Nothing like a little danger to get runners moving!
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