E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park: 27th Irish Classic 10K Race Report

Goal: Just race hard, for position, if possible.

This race looked like the perfect tune-up 10K for this weekend. Pfitzinger's 18/70 marathon plan includes three tune-up races, 6 weeks out, 4 weeks out, and 2 weeks out. I never ran all three, because in my busy life it is hard to even get in one or two tune-up races, so usually the race must be near, and there must be no family program that day; the race must be the right distance and preferably similar style to the marathon.

Well, this was announced as "mixed surface", including asphalt, gravel, trail, and grass field. The asphalt portion was about 1/4 of the distance, and the rest (especially the trail and grass) was quite treacherous this morning: frosty, slippery grass, deep mud, puddles. That is especially fun going uphill! So the style of the race didn't match after all, but the other variables were present: all-in-all I'm happy I ran it. However, that explains why time goals would not have been appropriate.

It was a small race, and thank god, they started at 9am, not 8. It was cold: about 30 F, but coming out of winter this is perfect racing temperature. I had some trouble starting the car in the morning, so I was 12 minutes "late" arriving at 8:12. I picked up my packet, put on my racing gear, went to the bathroom, and started warming up at 8:34. I did two miles of jogging checking out early parts of the course. I stepped into a deep puddle right away that soaked my shoes, but it didn't really bother me later. I felt rather tired during the warmup. In fact cumulative fatigue has been bothering me for some days, and on top of that, we had a pretty brutal fire training on Thursday that left me with aching muscles all over my body.

Just ten minutes after I finished my warmup, I lined up in the front and we started the race right on time at 9:00.

Four people got away immediately. Somebody (I think) in a blue shirt, shorts, quite fast, started to lead. Another guy (his name is Mike) in a white shirt saying "Team Mubea" on it. I noticed him before the race: he had quite a ritual, e.g. he greased his legs (or put some kind of cream on them). Good or bad, he obviously took the race pretty seriously. In the third place, another guy who wore the race shirt. That usually means less serious runner, but sometimes they can surprise you. I settled in fourth place.

I tried to be a bit conservative knowing the treacherous trails and hills ahead, but those four started quite fast, so I decided to follow them. Right after the start (like in 50 meters) we went from the asphalt parking lot to the gravel. After running maybe 0.2 miles on the gravel, we changed to grass, and that slowed us down quite a bit. The top three started to pull apart, but I was right behind the third place guy. We ran like this for a while. His pace was just fine for me: maybe just a bit faster than lactate threshold. He was more muscular than me, and we were climbing a bit, plus add the race shirt: I figured I should be able to beat him later for a podium finish.

Mile 1: 6:44

We reached the top of that gentle slope at around the mile marker (though no real markers were on the course). On the gentle downhill, I started to feel that he was slowing. This is the age old question: how much are you willing to slow, risking that somebody behind you is catching up. I didn't wait very long. We arrived to an asphalt road and I put in a strong attack (on a slight downhill). I left him in no time. Fortunately Mike was not very far ahead, and not excessively fast either, so I could "pace" after him, following him at a distance of 50-100 yards.

We left the asphalt quickly and we were back on the muddy trails: a downhill portion that you can't enjoy because of the surface. Soon I noticed that I was starting to catch up to Mike. I didn't mind that at all, of course. I caught him at around 1.8 miles. I deliberately didn't pass him. I think he expected that I would, so he looked a bit confused. His breathing sounded very labored, while I was still relatively relaxed.

Mile 2: 6:33

The next portion was quite hilly (up and down). I could have used some cross country spikes, but then what do you do on the asphalt? I followed Mike, and I noticed that it felt easy to do that. He did a good job though pacing the uphills (I may have overexerted myself without him), and when we reached another top at mile 2.6, I had to change into a 2-1 breathing, and I kept to that until the end. At 2.7, we hit another asphalt portion. We had to slow to find the course signs. The leading golf cart was in front of the leader of the race, who was now too far to be seen, and we got the "runner-up treatment". :) Even the asphalt was very muddy and full of puddles. At one place, we actually had to run on the grass by the road, because the road had a little pond on it. :)

I didn't really want to attack Mike before the turnaround point, because I wanted to see where the #4 runner was. But he felt slow, I felt relaxed, so it just happened. I slowly pulled away from him, willing to let him back in the lead any time, but he didn't seem to want or to be able to do that.

Mile 3: 6:59

I hit the turnaround point right at 3.1 miles on my GPS, so I knew I can rely on it for the distance. This was an out and back course, so I looked at the positions. The top four was the same people, except that I went from 4th to 2nd. Mike was right behind me, close enough so that I could hear his breathing. The 4th place was almost 2 minutes behind me, so that distance seemed safe.

Mike's breathing got quieter. We're back on the trail. I was pushing hard. By the time I hit the mile marker, I didn't hear Mike any more.

Mile 4: 6:38

The next mile was probably the most difficult part of the course. All uphill, and the first part is on trails. I knew this was coming, because I ran this portion during my warmup jog. I also knew I needed more energy for the last mile, and I wasn't going to lose my 2nd place. So I ran the hill conservatively. Made it to the gravel, then the asphalt, still uphill. I almost took the wrong turn, but fortunately I stopped myself.

Mile 5: 7:03

When we turned on the trail again, I looked back. I saw Mike not too far back. I can still lose this. I knew I had to keep pushing, so I did. This was still uphill, until about mile 5.4. I kept myself on that sweet spot that is "almost blowup", but you feel you can still finish. This mile was entirely trail/grass.

Mile 6: 6:49

Right at the mile marker another switchback to the gravel. I saw Mike at a safe distance (~200 yards). You can't erase that lead in ~400 yards. So I was happy, but it isn't a time to slow down. I pushed the last gravel bit at around 6:15 pace for a 42:29 finish. Second place overall is great, and I was happy with my effort. The time is meaningless. I'm sure this was good training. Before the race the constant fatigue I felt made me think that I might be overtraining, but based on this race, I think this is not the case.

I had a great chat with Mike after the race. We ran the cooldown together. He is from Germany, working here in Florence, KY (Mubea is the name of his company).

Postrace food was fine: I had a banana and a bottle of water. I got a medal for my age group win, but nothing for 2nd place overall. The winner was a 46 year old guy! I had a get a jump to start for the car going home, but I got lucky, and the guy who parked next to me was able to help me, so I didn't even get delayed. Now I'm off to battery shopping.