Run at the Rock…
I posted this to daily mile, but thought I’d cut and paste it here.
Extremely sloppy and muddy, cold and wet, but great fun! 
It felt really good to push myself hard in a race as it has been a while.
I wish I had know the course a little better… I went out pretty hard the 1st 1/2 mile as it was on the road, and with a mass start with both the 7 and 14 miler racers all starting, it was crowded. I wanted to hit the single track without too many slower runners in front. While there was some single track early on, there was also a lot of horse trails that were wide enough to easily pass (or get passed!), so I could have gone a little slower to start.
The fast start meant I did have to slow in the middle, but I picked it up around mile 5. The mile markers were a little off, as they kept showing me just under 10 minute pace, and I knew I was running faster. And the last mile I ran in < 5 minutes. So they made up for it.
The GoLite trail shoes were awesome in the mud, as I knew they would be. While some runners looked like they were on ice in the slick clay mud, I never slipped at all. These shoes have huge knobs on them — almost like cleats. Should do well in the snow and ice too!
All in all I am happy with a 9 minute pace on these trails in these conditions. The single track mountain bike trails were very tight and technical, so tough to run fast on, while the horse trails did allow me to open it up a bit. I could not open it up on the downhills like I would normally do, due to the slickness of the mud.
The results were posted quickly, and I was 6th out of 28 in the Mens 35-39 and 61 out of 360 over all. I’m surprised I did that well but I’ll of course take it! :-)
[...] have to make a decision. I am pretty sure I will go with the 195 again, unless it is as muddy as last year, in which case I’ll go with the [...]
Raven Rock Rumble 10 miler « 2sparrows
November 22, 2010 at 4:45 pm
[...] Last year, Run at the Rock was a total mud-fest. This year, it was a bit chilly, with the starting temp around 35F, though that isn’t nearly as cold as last year’s Little River Run which was 16F. I opted for my CW-X 3/4 tights, and an icebreaker 200 body-fit top (non-zip — I like the zipper kind better). I’ve only run short distances in the CW-X’s, and then only when leaving directly from home. This time, I put them on, and then drove into town to meet Bridget and Kent, before driving the 45 minutes to the park. When we got there and I got out of the car, my feet felt a little tingly. I was really cold so I decided to go back to the car for a few minutes and crank the heat. I even took my shoes off to rub my feet to try to get them to come to life. I could not figure out why they were tingling! [...]
Run at the Rock. « 2sparrows
December 7, 2010 at 3:23 pm