Chocolate Chase 10k

After a six month hiatus from racing, during which time I debated whether or not I even wanted to race any more (a topic I still haven’t totally put to rest), I decided to get back in the game, so to speak, this past Saturday at the Chocolate Chase 10k in Lewisburg, WV. I wanted a longer race that I could treat more or less as a tempo workout, and my plan was to use it both as a gauge of my desire to compete and my current fitness level.

It would be my seventh time doing this race, but I hadn’t done it since 2007. I remembered the course was tough, but over the years I’d forgotten just how relentlessly hilly it is. You basically run one hill after another after another all the way to 5 miles, then finally get a nice, downhill finish. Way back in 2001, I ran 32:02 at this race, a time I can’t even fathom now, especially on that course. I’d actually run sub-33:00 two other times as well, going 32:29 and 32:42 in 2002 and 2000 respectively. Those were the days – ha, ha! To say the least, I knew I wouldn’t be approaching my fastest times. In fact, since I didn’t plan on an all-out effort, I figured if I was within 4 minutes of my best I’d be doing alright.

Just before I started my warm-up I ran into Adam Coon, who ran for my good friend Mike Cox at Concord University, so I’ve known him for a while. Since graduating, Adam has developed into a great runner, having run a PR of 2:30:34 in the marathon, so I knew if he was in shape at all he would be the favorite. As I warmed up for the effort to come, I actually didn’t feel good at all and thought I might be in for a really rough day.

When the gun fired, Adam and I went to the front and I actually didn’t feel too bad now that I was racing. It didn’t take long for Adam to start putting a few strides on me, and I didn’t even attempt to go with him. For one, I wanted to stick to my plan of not crossing the line in this race, and for another I knew that if I did go with him I’d likely pay the price later. I had a little company off my shoulder for the first mile, then I was on my own in second place the rest of the way, watching Adam slowly fade into the distance.

There were points in the race where I felt rough, mostly on the tougher climbs, but there were also points where I actually thought to myself that this was the best I’ve felt in a long time at this sort of pace/effort. When all was said and done, I crossed the line in second place in 35:17, almost exactly a minute behind Adam and over three minutes ahead of third place. In other words, it was a solo effort. Complete results can be found here. My splits were fairly even, going 5:38, 5:45, 5:41, 5:45, 5:50, 5:31, 1:07 (.2). Adam and I did a 3.5+ mile cool-down to wrap up the day.

After the race, and even now, I have mixed feelings about how things went. On the one hand, for a going on 41 year old who hadn’t raced in six months, it wasn’t a bad performance, especially considering the difficulty of the course. Just for kicks, I age-graded my time, and it converted to a 33:21, which percentage wise is 80.52%. Furthermore, like I said, I ran fairly evenly and felt about as good as I have in a while. On the other hand, however, I’m a little disappointed and frustrated. This was my slowest time on this course by over a minute, with my second slowest being a 34:11 I ran when I last did the race in 2007. Additionally, I wasn’t able to be competitive with Adam at all, and the goals I’d like to accomplish as a Masters runner seem so far off right now it’s not even funny. That, of course, makes me wonder if it’s all worth it. I’ve been training hard over the past couple months, making lots of sacrifices as a result, and this is not the sort of payoff I’m seeking from that effort.

So, I’m back at a crossroads once again. I feel like I’m about as fit as I’ve been in since probably 2009, maybe even 2007. However, I’ve gotten to around this same level a handful of times over the past few years only to have some sort of small setback cause me to lose ground and force me to have to fight my way back yet again. I need to find a way to break through to another level and I need to do so soon. Otherwise I really have to evaluate whether or not the effort I’m putting in is worth it. I still have a desire to run fast and to compete, but I have to admit that my taste for racing is starting to wane. I don’t want to hang ‘em up just yet because I feel like there’s still a chance I can achieve some of my Masters goals and I don’t want to regret not giving it a fair shot, but I’m certainly drawing ever closer to the point where I can say I gave it what I had and it’s time to let go and just run for fun. For now, I’ll keep working hard and see what happens, but something is going to give one way or the other in the near future. In other words, it’s time to fish or cut bait.