I’ve run this race a couple times before, winning the 5k several years ago and the 10k back in 2007. I forgot how hard the course was though. I’ve pasted the elevation profile below, and as you can see, it’s nasty. It actually has just a little more net elevation change than the Fincastle 10k, something I wouldn’t have guessed before but have no doubt about now that all is said and done. The course is basically two out-and-backs, the first down a big hill to the resort center and back and the second out to the entrance of the park and back. That means the first mile is significantly downhill, which you make up during mile 3. From there, it’s just rolling all the way to mile 6 followed by a nice downhill finish.
Going into this race, I was hoping to run right around 35 min. In 2007, I had run the Fincastle 10k in 36:08 then run 35:20 here, so I figured after running 35:38 in Fincastle this year that low 35’s would be a reasonable goal. During the w-up I felt pretty tired and flat and noticed it was fairly warm/humid and also a bit windy, but I still figured I should be able to average 5:40’s without going over the edge, especially considering I’d averaged 5:44 for a ten miler the week before. Boy was I wrong!
I knew I was in trouble right from the get go. The gun fired and I immediately went to the lead. We headed down the hill and I felt ok but at the same time like I was running not just cruising. I hit the mile in 5:16 and knew for sure then that it was gonna be a long day. I had hit 5:07 back in 2007, so not only was I slower, but I just didn’t feel that comfortable. Mile 2 was a 5:43, so close to the pace I wanted, but again, not that easy. After that, the climb back to the start began and my day was pretty much over. I ran a blistering 6:23 mile 3, sadly on 5 sec slower than I had run that mile in 2007 (it is a BEAST). I saw my friend Brent Carter at the top of the hill and looked over at him and said, “This is horrible!” He assured me that I would have the wind at my back the last mile and a half and would be ok, but honestly I had thrown in the towel at that point. I ran the fourth mile in 5:59, which did serve to make me mad enough that I had barely broken 6:00 to pick it up as little. I hit mile 5 in 5:49 and mile 6 in 5:47 then ran the last .2 in 1:08 to cross the line in 36:08. I got the win easily, which helped, and I definitely enjoyed the event as a whole (the costume contest was pretty funny and it’s always nice to beat such characters as Santa Claus, Cupid, Super Girl, etc. – ha, ha), but I was still pretty disappointed with the way I ran.
Looking back, I’m not quite as upset as I was immediately afterward. Seeing the elevation profile helped, and I’ve also had time to think about the fact that I’m really only about 6 weeks into real training. I also ran this race with a lot of work in my legs over the past 3 weeks, and I didn’t exactly kill myself with effort during the race either. It really was more of a steady state than anything else, especially in the 2nd half. Regardless, the one thing I took away from this is the fact that I need to get better, a LOT better. It’s that simple. I can make excuses and I can try to make myself feel ok about it, but in the end, I’m just not where I want to be. I’m not even close. Fortunately I can do something about that, which is exactly what I intend to do.
Here is the link to the race article in the Bluefield Daily Telegraph (see lower half) and below are a couple pics. The first is obviously the elevation profile. The second is me just before the finish line (check out the skeleton hanging in the tree by the cemetery), and the third is Kaitlyn with the trophy I got. As they were handing out the trophies during the awards ceremony, she kept telling me “Daddy, get me one!” and she was really happy once she got her hands on it. Those are the sorts of moments that make my day!
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