Well, they did call it the Skyland Mountain Run
Today's runs: Warm up. 10k Race. Cool down.
Today was the final "tune-up race" before the marathon. I found exactly one race on a Saturday out of the three that the schedule calls for, and this was it: the Skyland Mountain Run, sponsored by the Skyland Community Church.
The more I think about it, the more I feel that the schedule is designed to make this race a fabulous success for the marathon trainer, to give them a great boost. Though this comes just six days after a long run, the previous five have been very, very easy: nothing unusual, two recovery runs, low miles.
The thing about any race, however, is that to use the most objective measure (one's time), one must be comparing that time to similar circumstances. Ideally, this race would have been in San Francisco where it is cool, and on a pretty flat course, just like the other 10k's I've run so far. Ideally, I would have seen an improvement, a Personal Record today. This race was not for that: it was warm, and run on a windy mountain road. One thing I know is windy mountain roads, and they are never flat. It is either up or down, but not flat.
Along the route to Santa Cruz is Summit Road. Take Summit Road about 5 miles East and you'll reach Radonich Ranch, the starting point of the race. The race then follows the twisty mountain road for 5km, turns around, and heads back.
I had called in advance and found out that the distance was to be marked off in kilometers. This would have the advantage of more frequent feedback on how much distance has been covered (1km=0.62mi), but the disadvantage similar to someone telling you your weight in kilograms (unless you were raised outside of the U.S., where metric is king). Regardless, I prepared a pace-band that I could wear around my wrist and refer to at the kilometer-markers to get a sense of if I was meeting my goals for pacing myself. In particular, I wanted to start slow, something I have struggled to do in each race so far.
At the start, I noticed that a lot of kids were in the race. I mean young kids, not just teenagers. I lined up in the middle of the front of the pack so that I wouldn't get tempted to stay with the 5K racers who would set too speedy a pace for me.
At the start, I thought I was doing a good job of not going out too fast. I noticed my breathing, but my strides were very easy.
Still, at the 1km mark, I noted a time of 4:00, 15 seconds ahead of my pace (this, it turns out, was like running at 6:26/mile instead of 6:50). I knew I had to slow it down, and felt fortunate to get that feedback sooner. Still, at 2km, I was ahead of pace, and here I come to two realizations important for the marathon:
Now, with the 5K racers gone, the route was pretty empty. I took note of a curly-headed tall kid in front of me, and stuck with him. I started to note that, between 3km and 4km, the path was heading uphill. It was hard to maintain pace, and sure enough, at the 4km marker, I was significantly behind my desired pace. The hill had made a difference.
Before the turnaround at 5km, I started to see the lead 10K runners who had reached that point and were heading back. I counted: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... The curly haired kid was #6, leaving me#7. At the turnaround, there was another water table, and I lost some time because they wanted me to run counter-clockwise around the cone (even though the turnaround on the 5K was clockwise). I took another cup of water, choked again on the first sip, but this time got the rest of the water down. Improvement.
I tried my best to trail the curly headed kid, but I wasn't gaining ground on him, nor my desired pace. I started to be reminded of my high school cross country days: mountain road, shade and sun, warm, and me being tested on what I had left.
From the 6km mark (the 4km mark coming back), I noticed the downhill and started lengthening my stride and trying to pick up ground. I was moving faster, but not gaining on the kid. At 7km. I was well behind my pace, and I was finding it harder to summon the speed I wanted to.
Passing the 5K turnaround point again (7.5km), I started to notice more people from the 5K race (walkers, really), and now had to dodge a handful of people walking. One set of ladies were walking four-across, and as I slipped narrowly past the shoulder of one of them, she was surprised and joked with her friends that I had been drafting on her. I really wanted them to take note that there was an actual race going on, though.
Somewhere in the 8th km, I had to work my way around a car or two (they hadn't completely closed the road). I started to lose sight of the curly headed kid around corners. I was breathing hard, my heart was racing, and I was trying to bring it in strong like I did in the Freedom Road 10K, but the difference here was the course: the winding up and down of the route made it harder.
As I neared the finish, a quick turn onto a gravel driveway of the ranch, I had to contend with another car that they had allowed to enter just at the wrong moment. I went around, and raced to the finish.
My time was 42:55.9, and I came in seventh place.
• • •
So, it wasn't a PR, and it wasn't a fast course, and though I was ready to put in a good race, I can't look at that time, 55 seconds slower than the last 10K, and really compare the two. I'm also beginning to feel that the 10K is a completely different kind of running than what I am preparing for: it is faster than my Lactate Threshold pace, and has considerable challenges associated with maintaining that speed.
I have no doubt that I am now a stronger runner than I was back in March. My legs didn't feel bad at all today (just a few moments of my left knee flashing, early). And I am beginning to feel the taper-effect: shortly after my cool down run, I was feeling like I needed to put in another 6 or 8 miles later in the day. My body seems to be sending me signals already that it wants to run more and more, and that will come in handy on the day of the marathon.
Many thanks to my wife for getting up early with me, making the long drive, taking pictures and providing support.
Today was the final "tune-up race" before the marathon. I found exactly one race on a Saturday out of the three that the schedule calls for, and this was it: the Skyland Mountain Run, sponsored by the Skyland Community Church.
The more I think about it, the more I feel that the schedule is designed to make this race a fabulous success for the marathon trainer, to give them a great boost. Though this comes just six days after a long run, the previous five have been very, very easy: nothing unusual, two recovery runs, low miles.
The thing about any race, however, is that to use the most objective measure (one's time), one must be comparing that time to similar circumstances. Ideally, this race would have been in San Francisco where it is cool, and on a pretty flat course, just like the other 10k's I've run so far. Ideally, I would have seen an improvement, a Personal Record today. This race was not for that: it was warm, and run on a windy mountain road. One thing I know is windy mountain roads, and they are never flat. It is either up or down, but not flat.
Along the route to Santa Cruz is Summit Road. Take Summit Road about 5 miles East and you'll reach Radonich Ranch, the starting point of the race. The race then follows the twisty mountain road for 5km, turns around, and heads back.
I had called in advance and found out that the distance was to be marked off in kilometers. This would have the advantage of more frequent feedback on how much distance has been covered (1km=0.62mi), but the disadvantage similar to someone telling you your weight in kilograms (unless you were raised outside of the U.S., where metric is king). Regardless, I prepared a pace-band that I could wear around my wrist and refer to at the kilometer-markers to get a sense of if I was meeting my goals for pacing myself. In particular, I wanted to start slow, something I have struggled to do in each race so far.
At the start, I noticed that a lot of kids were in the race. I mean young kids, not just teenagers. I lined up in the middle of the front of the pack so that I wouldn't get tempted to stay with the 5K racers who would set too speedy a pace for me.
At the start, I thought I was doing a good job of not going out too fast. I noticed my breathing, but my strides were very easy.
Still, at the 1km mark, I noted a time of 4:00, 15 seconds ahead of my pace (this, it turns out, was like running at 6:26/mile instead of 6:50). I knew I had to slow it down, and felt fortunate to get that feedback sooner. Still, at 2km, I was ahead of pace, and here I come to two realizations important for the marathon:
- First: If I am ahead of pace, I should not attempt to go slower than pace in order to catch up. I should just get on pace, meaning that at my next marker, I would maintain the same amount of time ahead, roughly.
- Second: If I can get feedback earlier, I should. Hence, I will take note of a bunch of markers along the first couple of miles of the marathon course and carry a small piece of paper with splits within the first two miles. I'm thinking .25 mi, .5mi, .75mi, and 1.5 mi.
Now, with the 5K racers gone, the route was pretty empty. I took note of a curly-headed tall kid in front of me, and stuck with him. I started to note that, between 3km and 4km, the path was heading uphill. It was hard to maintain pace, and sure enough, at the 4km marker, I was significantly behind my desired pace. The hill had made a difference.
Before the turnaround at 5km, I started to see the lead 10K runners who had reached that point and were heading back. I counted: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... The curly haired kid was #6, leaving me#7. At the turnaround, there was another water table, and I lost some time because they wanted me to run counter-clockwise around the cone (even though the turnaround on the 5K was clockwise). I took another cup of water, choked again on the first sip, but this time got the rest of the water down. Improvement.
I tried my best to trail the curly headed kid, but I wasn't gaining ground on him, nor my desired pace. I started to be reminded of my high school cross country days: mountain road, shade and sun, warm, and me being tested on what I had left.
From the 6km mark (the 4km mark coming back), I noticed the downhill and started lengthening my stride and trying to pick up ground. I was moving faster, but not gaining on the kid. At 7km. I was well behind my pace, and I was finding it harder to summon the speed I wanted to.
Passing the 5K turnaround point again (7.5km), I started to notice more people from the 5K race (walkers, really), and now had to dodge a handful of people walking. One set of ladies were walking four-across, and as I slipped narrowly past the shoulder of one of them, she was surprised and joked with her friends that I had been drafting on her. I really wanted them to take note that there was an actual race going on, though.
Somewhere in the 8th km, I had to work my way around a car or two (they hadn't completely closed the road). I started to lose sight of the curly headed kid around corners. I was breathing hard, my heart was racing, and I was trying to bring it in strong like I did in the Freedom Road 10K, but the difference here was the course: the winding up and down of the route made it harder.
As I neared the finish, a quick turn onto a gravel driveway of the ranch, I had to contend with another car that they had allowed to enter just at the wrong moment. I went around, and raced to the finish.
My time was 42:55.9, and I came in seventh place.
• • •
So, it wasn't a PR, and it wasn't a fast course, and though I was ready to put in a good race, I can't look at that time, 55 seconds slower than the last 10K, and really compare the two. I'm also beginning to feel that the 10K is a completely different kind of running than what I am preparing for: it is faster than my Lactate Threshold pace, and has considerable challenges associated with maintaining that speed.
I have no doubt that I am now a stronger runner than I was back in March. My legs didn't feel bad at all today (just a few moments of my left knee flashing, early). And I am beginning to feel the taper-effect: shortly after my cool down run, I was feeling like I needed to put in another 6 or 8 miles later in the day. My body seems to be sending me signals already that it wants to run more and more, and that will come in handy on the day of the marathon.
Many thanks to my wife for getting up early with me, making the long drive, taking pictures and providing support.
posted by Brent at
6:52 PM
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