Race Report - Woodminster Cross Country 9 Miler
For background, please read my Race Plan.
The days leading up to my race and especially the day before were difficult. It has been a couple of years since I "really" raced. I have been doing some 5k races over the last year or so but I have excused myself from worrying about them because they were short or I had the stroller so I wan't trying to go fast, etc. The difference is that this race was long enough and hard enough that there genuinely a chance that I would not be able to finish. I trained very purposefully for this. I logged miles training on the actual race course, I did course preview runs to familiarize myself with the terrain. I knew that if I was not well trained, the experience would be miserable.
In my Pre-Pip running life I never tried to go fast. I sat back and went slow and was happy to just finish. In my Post-Pip running life I'm not happy to sit back and stay at the same level all the time. I want to get faster and stronger. I told myself I was in better shape for the race this time than the last time I ran it. This was only half true. The last time I ran this I had a larger endurance base. I was regularly running more than 10 miles and was coming off a ten miler and a half marathon in the previous 6 weeks (The East Bay Triple Crown Trail Championship - so many long names!). I was concerned that my longest training run had been 7 miles and that the three weeks of training before the race were disrupted when I went back to work. I accepted that this was my life and we have to work with what we've got.
The day before the race I felt awful. I was tired and had a headache. I was anxious and I now remember that this is what I feel like before a big race. My body goes into conservation mode for the week leading up to race day. It is as if my body refuses to burn any glycogen beyond the minimum. I feel shaky and weak, especially in my quads. I thought I was getting sick and wouldn't be able to race! Quite typically, I could not get to sleep the night before and spent a lot of time visualizing the course and talking through my race plan. The old mental channels were very strong as I set out my gear the night before. I loaded up my gel flask, laid out shoes, socks, & hydration belt.
The race had an human start time of 9 AM (luxury!). I set my alarm for 6 AM. I got up, made a bowl of oatmeal, raisins, brown sugar, & milk ate it up and them went back to bed, if not to sleep. Pip came in to our room around 7 AM and we had our morning cuddle. My second alarm went off at 7:30 and I got out of bed at 7:45. It seems anal, but meeting little milestones on race morning goes a long way to making me feel in control and as if I know what I am doing. Training isn't just miles, it's habits, dedication, getting out the door with the gear. I got dressed, got everything together and was out the door exactly on time at 8:15.
A ten minute drive up the hill, easy parking and I was at check in. Weather was great! Mid-sixties, no cloud cover but most of the race is wooded. The race had less than 150 runners, so it was quick and easy to get my number. There was no line for the ladies room! There was no toilet paper either but I'm not squeamish. First step of the race plan, I waited until 20 minutes before my start time and went for a warm up run. Instead of timing it I listened to my body. I went at a mellow pace out the course until I started to sweat in my sweatshirt, then I turned and came back at the same easy pace, getting warm. I dropped the sweatshirt and it was time to get talked to before the start.
Wave one went out and I waited an easy four minutes. Before my warm up I had talked through the course for a couple of first timers. I have found that small races tend to be very social events. People are very chatty and friendly, myself included! And we were off! I turned on my run tracker for a timer. I know the GPS is inaccurate but it's got a time interval set and I use that to take in fluid and nutrition (water every 10 minutes, gel every 40 minutes). Then it was go time! I kept my pace slow and stayed to the side to let the faster runners go out ahead of me. I hooked up with four women, two friends who were under trained but out for the fun of it and a mother-daughter team who were doing the East Bay Triple Crown together, how awesome is that?
The friends asked about the course, so I described the general profile - flat, BIG HILL, nice three mile easy net downhill, BIG BIG HILL, nice, three mile easy downhill. We came to the first hill and all started up. I stuck to the plan and got walking up this hill. I had trained to walk it and it paid off. I could hear the other runners huffing and puffing. The mother and daughter were doing their best to keep running and I walked past them. I stayed steady and slowed down when my heart rate got too high. The mantra for the day was "Active Recovery!" Rest doesn't equal stop. As we were slogging up this hill the next wave started to pass us. I made way and cheered these strong runners! Passing runners from behind was regular until around mile 3.
The slope evened out a bit and I got running. I was still walking any steep slope and my shin was cramping from the climb. Even with the warm up run I knew that I wasn't full warmed up. I was worried about it but I knew I had a big break before any more serious climbing. I kept walking the steep slopes as we passed up and over Skyline and turned at the Chabot Observatory. Once we crossed the Chabot Driveway I knew it was good times and got moving. I was going well down West Ridge. The familiar territory flew by. I took in my nutrition and cheered on the scratch runners, the very, very fast male runners. Boy were they going! I struck to my pace. I took a bathroom break at Skyline gate and then jumped back on the course. In just that little break the mother and daughter had caught me!
I headed out East Ridge and knew it was easy going for another mile and a half. I hooked up with another racer named Janet and we stuck together for the next three miles! It was great, she was faster than I was on the flats but I was faster on the downhills and the steep up hills, glutes versus quads! We chatted about all sorts of stuff and I know that I was much faster than I might have been because of her pacing. We turned down Prince, which is so steep it isn't restful and then up the Stream Trail. I fell back from Janet here for a few minutes but caught up to her quickly when we hit the Woodmonster. We walked slow and steady upwards. Once again, the mom-daughter duo was near us, as were several other runners. We enjoyed the beautiful scenery (it is a gorgeous course) and kept talking to pass the time and keep our minds off the difficulty. Janet fell back towards the end but she was in sight when I reached the top and raised my hands in victory!!
My training showed when I was able to get running again right after climbing the hill. I still walked the steep climbs for a few minutes but we got running and went for it, know that what was left was easy running. I stuck on Janet as long as I could, with a mile and a half to go I dropped off and wished her luck. I was getting tunnel vision and I was a lot of work to open my field of vision and keep my head up.
For the last mile, I was very tired. I had some discomfort in my right ankle and hip that was fatigue and it was just plain hard to keep my legs moving. Time was slowing down. I knew I had about a mile left and I had ten minutes until two hours, my time goal. It was a fight between being so tired and wanting to walk and wanting to beat 2 hours. I took a walk break about a half mile before the finish. It was refreshing! Then I turned down Palos Colorados.
Part of racing well is pacing yourself. Part of pacing this race is ensuring that your legs have enough strength left to go safely down this trail with any sort of speed. I was going well and with due caution but I took a bad step. I thought for sure I was going to take a header and was fortunately faced toward the uphill side of the trail. When you are falling, your body gives everything to keep you up. It worked, my legs stretched in front of me as my core and back yanked me back and I pulled out of the fall. I walked a few steps to give my tired ankle a rest and then proceeded apace down the hill. I turned onto Sunset and had three eights of a mile left. I started to run! and then went back to my slower pace as my heart started to explode and my legs yelled at me.
I kept going and then I could see the finish line, then I ran it in. I turned off from the finish line and after a minutes, my legs gave out and I melted to the grass. It's good pacing if you've got enough left to run it in to the finish line and then drop to the ground! I was pretty wrecked but happy. My execution was spot on. I raced as I planned, which I find just as satisfying as racing as fast as I can. I stretched in the grass, chatted with Janet and then went home for some well earned rest. As each runner came in behind me everyone who was hanging around would turn and cheer for them. The Mother-Daughter team finished holding hands, the two friends finished together with huge smiles on their faces. Small races are awesome!
This was a great race! My time was 2:03:48 good for about 118th place. That was an improvement of about 18 minutes from my previous result! I stuck to my training as well as I could. I made good choices about terrain and preparation. I made a race plan and stuck to it (including telling myself I was a goat!). It was a great day and I'm very proud of myself.
Onward!
The days leading up to my race and especially the day before were difficult. It has been a couple of years since I "really" raced. I have been doing some 5k races over the last year or so but I have excused myself from worrying about them because they were short or I had the stroller so I wan't trying to go fast, etc. The difference is that this race was long enough and hard enough that there genuinely a chance that I would not be able to finish. I trained very purposefully for this. I logged miles training on the actual race course, I did course preview runs to familiarize myself with the terrain. I knew that if I was not well trained, the experience would be miserable.
In my Pre-Pip running life I never tried to go fast. I sat back and went slow and was happy to just finish. In my Post-Pip running life I'm not happy to sit back and stay at the same level all the time. I want to get faster and stronger. I told myself I was in better shape for the race this time than the last time I ran it. This was only half true. The last time I ran this I had a larger endurance base. I was regularly running more than 10 miles and was coming off a ten miler and a half marathon in the previous 6 weeks (The East Bay Triple Crown Trail Championship - so many long names!). I was concerned that my longest training run had been 7 miles and that the three weeks of training before the race were disrupted when I went back to work. I accepted that this was my life and we have to work with what we've got.
The day before the race I felt awful. I was tired and had a headache. I was anxious and I now remember that this is what I feel like before a big race. My body goes into conservation mode for the week leading up to race day. It is as if my body refuses to burn any glycogen beyond the minimum. I feel shaky and weak, especially in my quads. I thought I was getting sick and wouldn't be able to race! Quite typically, I could not get to sleep the night before and spent a lot of time visualizing the course and talking through my race plan. The old mental channels were very strong as I set out my gear the night before. I loaded up my gel flask, laid out shoes, socks, & hydration belt.
The race had an human start time of 9 AM (luxury!). I set my alarm for 6 AM. I got up, made a bowl of oatmeal, raisins, brown sugar, & milk ate it up and them went back to bed, if not to sleep. Pip came in to our room around 7 AM and we had our morning cuddle. My second alarm went off at 7:30 and I got out of bed at 7:45. It seems anal, but meeting little milestones on race morning goes a long way to making me feel in control and as if I know what I am doing. Training isn't just miles, it's habits, dedication, getting out the door with the gear. I got dressed, got everything together and was out the door exactly on time at 8:15.
A ten minute drive up the hill, easy parking and I was at check in. Weather was great! Mid-sixties, no cloud cover but most of the race is wooded. The race had less than 150 runners, so it was quick and easy to get my number. There was no line for the ladies room! There was no toilet paper either but I'm not squeamish. First step of the race plan, I waited until 20 minutes before my start time and went for a warm up run. Instead of timing it I listened to my body. I went at a mellow pace out the course until I started to sweat in my sweatshirt, then I turned and came back at the same easy pace, getting warm. I dropped the sweatshirt and it was time to get talked to before the start.
Wave one went out and I waited an easy four minutes. Before my warm up I had talked through the course for a couple of first timers. I have found that small races tend to be very social events. People are very chatty and friendly, myself included! And we were off! I turned on my run tracker for a timer. I know the GPS is inaccurate but it's got a time interval set and I use that to take in fluid and nutrition (water every 10 minutes, gel every 40 minutes). Then it was go time! I kept my pace slow and stayed to the side to let the faster runners go out ahead of me. I hooked up with four women, two friends who were under trained but out for the fun of it and a mother-daughter team who were doing the East Bay Triple Crown together, how awesome is that?
The friends asked about the course, so I described the general profile - flat, BIG HILL, nice three mile easy net downhill, BIG BIG HILL, nice, three mile easy downhill. We came to the first hill and all started up. I stuck to the plan and got walking up this hill. I had trained to walk it and it paid off. I could hear the other runners huffing and puffing. The mother and daughter were doing their best to keep running and I walked past them. I stayed steady and slowed down when my heart rate got too high. The mantra for the day was "Active Recovery!" Rest doesn't equal stop. As we were slogging up this hill the next wave started to pass us. I made way and cheered these strong runners! Passing runners from behind was regular until around mile 3.
The slope evened out a bit and I got running. I was still walking any steep slope and my shin was cramping from the climb. Even with the warm up run I knew that I wasn't full warmed up. I was worried about it but I knew I had a big break before any more serious climbing. I kept walking the steep slopes as we passed up and over Skyline and turned at the Chabot Observatory. Once we crossed the Chabot Driveway I knew it was good times and got moving. I was going well down West Ridge. The familiar territory flew by. I took in my nutrition and cheered on the scratch runners, the very, very fast male runners. Boy were they going! I struck to my pace. I took a bathroom break at Skyline gate and then jumped back on the course. In just that little break the mother and daughter had caught me!
I headed out East Ridge and knew it was easy going for another mile and a half. I hooked up with another racer named Janet and we stuck together for the next three miles! It was great, she was faster than I was on the flats but I was faster on the downhills and the steep up hills, glutes versus quads! We chatted about all sorts of stuff and I know that I was much faster than I might have been because of her pacing. We turned down Prince, which is so steep it isn't restful and then up the Stream Trail. I fell back from Janet here for a few minutes but caught up to her quickly when we hit the Woodmonster. We walked slow and steady upwards. Once again, the mom-daughter duo was near us, as were several other runners. We enjoyed the beautiful scenery (it is a gorgeous course) and kept talking to pass the time and keep our minds off the difficulty. Janet fell back towards the end but she was in sight when I reached the top and raised my hands in victory!!
My training showed when I was able to get running again right after climbing the hill. I still walked the steep climbs for a few minutes but we got running and went for it, know that what was left was easy running. I stuck on Janet as long as I could, with a mile and a half to go I dropped off and wished her luck. I was getting tunnel vision and I was a lot of work to open my field of vision and keep my head up.
For the last mile, I was very tired. I had some discomfort in my right ankle and hip that was fatigue and it was just plain hard to keep my legs moving. Time was slowing down. I knew I had about a mile left and I had ten minutes until two hours, my time goal. It was a fight between being so tired and wanting to walk and wanting to beat 2 hours. I took a walk break about a half mile before the finish. It was refreshing! Then I turned down Palos Colorados.
Part of racing well is pacing yourself. Part of pacing this race is ensuring that your legs have enough strength left to go safely down this trail with any sort of speed. I was going well and with due caution but I took a bad step. I thought for sure I was going to take a header and was fortunately faced toward the uphill side of the trail. When you are falling, your body gives everything to keep you up. It worked, my legs stretched in front of me as my core and back yanked me back and I pulled out of the fall. I walked a few steps to give my tired ankle a rest and then proceeded apace down the hill. I turned onto Sunset and had three eights of a mile left. I started to run! and then went back to my slower pace as my heart started to explode and my legs yelled at me.
I kept going and then I could see the finish line, then I ran it in. I turned off from the finish line and after a minutes, my legs gave out and I melted to the grass. It's good pacing if you've got enough left to run it in to the finish line and then drop to the ground! I was pretty wrecked but happy. My execution was spot on. I raced as I planned, which I find just as satisfying as racing as fast as I can. I stretched in the grass, chatted with Janet and then went home for some well earned rest. As each runner came in behind me everyone who was hanging around would turn and cheer for them. The Mother-Daughter team finished holding hands, the two friends finished together with huge smiles on their faces. Small races are awesome!
This was a great race! My time was 2:03:48 good for about 118th place. That was an improvement of about 18 minutes from my previous result! I stuck to my training as well as I could. I made good choices about terrain and preparation. I made a race plan and stuck to it (including telling myself I was a goat!). It was a great day and I'm very proud of myself.
Onward!