Race Report: U-City 10-Miler
Centennial Commons, University City, Missouri
March 29, 2009
Snow was in the forecast. Come on, it's almost April. When I peaked through the blinds when the alarm went off I saw the white yard but no accumulation on the streets. As much as I wanted to crawl back under the covers, it looked like the race would be a go. It would be cold and wet, oh, and windy, but bailing due to weather conditions was not justifiable.
The short drive to the recreation center was a plus, and it was a chance to check out the facility that I had not seen yet. Pretty nice. Even an indoor soccer field. I wondered if it was the same one I had spent so many years playing on in the 80s, only under a new roof.
Soon we were gathered out on the road to get started. A few familiar faces, small talk, no real warmup to speak of, and oh, hey is that Ronald McDonald in full get-up telling us the race is about to start?
The first couple miles were generally uphill and I thought my pace was slow, but there were others who usually pull ahead of me that were not doing so, so I figured it was OK -- just the hills holding us all back a little. It was first down and then up to the High School (class of 88), followed by more gradual climbing towards the Jr. High (class of 84). The pack was thinned out and I had a good group to try and stick with. Two guys had problems and seemed to hit a wall or have physical issues as they pulled up to regroup. I was hanging with "Sham Rock" (nickname I came up with based on his shirt). We were together a few miles, but when we circled back past the High School and then up the steepest part of the course, he created separation and was far enough ahead that I could no longer key off of him. Instead I wanted to close the gap to "Blueberry" (nickname I came up with based on bright blue shirt and blue dotted tights).
My watch was telling me that my mile splits were due to erratic pacing, but I think my effort was consistent. It was more a matter of the terrain and wind dictating the tempo. I eventually closed on Blueberry and hoped I could maybe even surge the last 3 miles to attempt a strong finish and get closer to the time goal range I had hoped for. Unfortunately, the course did not cooperate. I was into the wind and facing more uphill action. I was wearing the mask of pain when I saw WOA Jamie (Wife of Activeness) coming towards me and smiling. I gave a wave and soldiered on, happy to see she was doing well. Blueberry had been inspired to pick up the pace when I had passed him, and was now pulling back in front of me around mile 8-9.
At the final right turn, there was about a mile left and I was surprised to see the two guys who I thought had bonked recover strong and cruise by me. I pushed the flat fast final mile and got about 20 yards ahead of Blueberry, coming in a few minutes slower than I had hoped. As I crossed the final cone in front of a lot of the guys from 180 Energy Running and the Ghisallo Shop, I heard someone label Blueberry as "2nd Place in the Professor Division" (he had the look and probably had 10-15 years on me). Nice work, sir!
Grabbed a coat and dry shirt and came back to see Jamie finish up around her expected time. Tough course, gritty conditions, solid effort, good benchmark and reminder to work hard and try to improve for the half marathon in about three weeks.
-JPD
PS - Noticed in race results (besides me being in the female category in the first draft) that "Blueberry" is only 42. Hope he doesn't read this since I said he was like 50. My bad.
March 29, 2009
Snow was in the forecast. Come on, it's almost April. When I peaked through the blinds when the alarm went off I saw the white yard but no accumulation on the streets. As much as I wanted to crawl back under the covers, it looked like the race would be a go. It would be cold and wet, oh, and windy, but bailing due to weather conditions was not justifiable.
The short drive to the recreation center was a plus, and it was a chance to check out the facility that I had not seen yet. Pretty nice. Even an indoor soccer field. I wondered if it was the same one I had spent so many years playing on in the 80s, only under a new roof.
Soon we were gathered out on the road to get started. A few familiar faces, small talk, no real warmup to speak of, and oh, hey is that Ronald McDonald in full get-up telling us the race is about to start?
The first couple miles were generally uphill and I thought my pace was slow, but there were others who usually pull ahead of me that were not doing so, so I figured it was OK -- just the hills holding us all back a little. It was first down and then up to the High School (class of 88), followed by more gradual climbing towards the Jr. High (class of 84). The pack was thinned out and I had a good group to try and stick with. Two guys had problems and seemed to hit a wall or have physical issues as they pulled up to regroup. I was hanging with "Sham Rock" (nickname I came up with based on his shirt). We were together a few miles, but when we circled back past the High School and then up the steepest part of the course, he created separation and was far enough ahead that I could no longer key off of him. Instead I wanted to close the gap to "Blueberry" (nickname I came up with based on bright blue shirt and blue dotted tights).
My watch was telling me that my mile splits were due to erratic pacing, but I think my effort was consistent. It was more a matter of the terrain and wind dictating the tempo. I eventually closed on Blueberry and hoped I could maybe even surge the last 3 miles to attempt a strong finish and get closer to the time goal range I had hoped for. Unfortunately, the course did not cooperate. I was into the wind and facing more uphill action. I was wearing the mask of pain when I saw WOA Jamie (Wife of Activeness) coming towards me and smiling. I gave a wave and soldiered on, happy to see she was doing well. Blueberry had been inspired to pick up the pace when I had passed him, and was now pulling back in front of me around mile 8-9.
At the final right turn, there was about a mile left and I was surprised to see the two guys who I thought had bonked recover strong and cruise by me. I pushed the flat fast final mile and got about 20 yards ahead of Blueberry, coming in a few minutes slower than I had hoped. As I crossed the final cone in front of a lot of the guys from 180 Energy Running and the Ghisallo Shop, I heard someone label Blueberry as "2nd Place in the Professor Division" (he had the look and probably had 10-15 years on me). Nice work, sir!
Grabbed a coat and dry shirt and came back to see Jamie finish up around her expected time. Tough course, gritty conditions, solid effort, good benchmark and reminder to work hard and try to improve for the half marathon in about three weeks.
-JPD
PS - Noticed in race results (besides me being in the female category in the first draft) that "Blueberry" is only 42. Hope he doesn't read this since I said he was like 50. My bad.
posted by JPD at Sunday, March 29, 2009
